Government and the Church reach consensus over the Religious Denomination Act

The government and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church have agreed that the controversial amendments to the Religious Denominations Act will be changed between first and second reading in the Parliament. The salaries of clerics will be increased and will be equated with those of the teachers. Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said after a meeting in the Synodal Palace on 4^th of October. The state would give at least 15 million BGN for the pay rise.

Two drafts - one submitted by GERB, BSP and MRF, and the other one by the United Patriots - propose amendments to the Religious Denominations Act. The changes united the ruling and opposition, but triggered criticism by the Holy Synod. Yesterday, the Metropolitans came up with a position saying they did not approve the allocation of the subsidy for religions the way it was proposed. They also disagreed with the idea for control over the funding in the Church.

Part of the amendments aim to “close all doors” of external influences. Therefore drafters insist on threshold for donations from abroad, which are not subject of control.

The controversial provisions in the draft law will be subject to clarification between first and second reading.