_{The order and government given concretely in the Statute of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, endorsed by the Third Council of the Church and the People in 1953.}

_{The Statute is imbued with the spirit of the ancient Christian principle of a complete and true abidance by the decisions of the council, under which bishop, clergy and laymen act unanimously and jointly, occupying their respective place in the Church and social organism and fulfilling their appropriate functions in its all-round activities.}

_{According to the Statute, the basic order of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is the following:}

_{1. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church is first of all: "…an inseparable member of the one, holy, synodal and apostolic church". But at the same time it is "a self-governing body, under the name of Patriarchate".}

_{2. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church has its own domain. Within the boundaries of the Republic of Bulgaria it is divided into 11 dioceses, and for the Orthodox Bulgarians in America, Canada and Australia it has two dioceses with seats in New York and Akron. Under the jurisdiction of the Bulgarian Church are the Bulgarian parishes in Istanbul, Budapest, Vienna and Bucharest. A small group of monks maintain the Bulgarian monastic cultural tradition at the Monastery of Zograph on Mount Athos.}

_{Each diocese is divided into a number of smaller administrative units, whose total number is now 58. Each church county is divided into parishes. The number of the parishes in the diocese of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is about 2 600.}

_{3. The supreme clerical, judicial and administrative power for the whole domain of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is exercised by the Holy Synod, which includes the Patriarch and all diocesan prelates. It functions in two bodies: the Full Synod and the Little Synod. The Full Synod has two regular sessions per year- in the months of June and November, and extra sessions-whenever it proves necessary, and deals with the more important affairs of the Church. The Little Synod is elected by the Fully Synod for a term of four years. Together with the Patriarch it has five members and is a standing body, which discusses the current affairs of the Church. Both bodies of the Holy Synod are chaired by the Patriarch, who represents the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and on behalf of the Holy Synod maintains contacts with the state authorities and with the other Churches. He enjoys primacy by honour and dignity. He or his deputy holds the executive power.}

_{4. There is a Supreme Church Council at the Holy Synod, chaired by a prelate - member of the Little Synod, which includes two clerics and two laymen, elected for a term of four years. It is in charge of the general financial and economic affairs of the Church.}

_{5. The Patriarchical Electoral Council of the Church and the People or the Council of the Church and the People is convened when it is necessary to decide on most important church problems, such as the election of a Patriarch or to make amendments to the Statute of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church; it includes also the bishop and representative of the clerics and the laymen.}

_{6. The church power in a diocese belong to the diocesan prelate (metropolitan) and is exercised with the aid of the diocesan council, which is chaired by the prelate and has two clerics and two laymen, elected for a term of four years.}

_{7. Church life in the parish is guided by the parish priest with the assistance of the church wardens (four to six laymen), elected by the meeting of the parishioners. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church has now about 1 500 parish priests.}

_{Besides the eleven diocesan prelates the Bulgarian Orthodox Church has also ten bishops, bearing the titles of ancient dioceses.}

_{8. There are believers in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church who have devoted themselves to monastic life. The supreme clergy is selected from their midst. There are now some 120 monasteries in Bulgarian with about 200 monks and nearly as many nuns.[Wait a map]. The monasteries are stauropygial, i.e. they depend directly on the Holy Synod, and diocesan, which are under the local prelate. The management of the inner life in the monasteries is exercised by the abbot, when the monastery is a small one, and by the abbot and a monastery council, with four to six monks, elected by all the members of the fraternity.}

_{9. According to the religious Denomination Act and the Statute of the Church, the funds for the financial support of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church are collected by the Church itself or come by way of state subsidies. The Church's own income comes from contributions, donation, wills, inheritances, real estate and other property, farms, the production and sale of church candles and other religious object, the monopoly of which was granted to it by virtue of the 11th Decree of the Council of Ministers of January 22, 1954.}
 
 

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