RE in Bulgaria

Religious Education in Bulgaria

България

RE in Bulgaria

Historical background

Before 1990

Тhe first attempt to open a Sunday school is attributed to Hr. Danov. He was a teacher in the village of Strelcha, Panagyurishte, Central Bulgaria in 1850. In 1869, the widespread opening of Sunday schools in the country began in the bigger cities – Sofia, Varna, Burgas, Plovdiv, and other places. In the period from 1899 to 1905, numerous Sunday schools developed, especially in the old educational centers of the country: Tarnovo, Stara Zagora, Sliven, Kotel, Vratsa, Vidin, etc. Sunday schools are free.

After 1923, the governments of the Democratic Alliance—led by Prime Minister Alexander Tsankov and Minister of Enlightenment (Education) Nikola Naydenov, who served from 1930 to 1945—continued to uphold traditional educational policies in Bulgaria. They preserved the inclusion of Religion as a subject in schools, viewing it as a vital avenue for ethical instruction and the promotion of a culturally enriched society. Their overarching goal was to elevate education as a means of moral development and to cultivate higher virtues among the younger generation.

After the coup of 1944, the trends in our education changed radically. A few years later, religious education was removed from the curriculum, and the appearance of Bulgarian education became entirely materialistic and atheistic, as under the communist regime, everything religious had to be destroyed and forbidden.

Since 1990

Strengthening the prestige and affirming the spiritual and educational role of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was done by the preparation of a larger number of specially educated priests.

The timeline of the subject Religion in the Bulgarian school:

  • During the 1997/1998 school year, for the 1st time in Bulgaria, the subject “Religion” was introduced in the elective preparatory classes.
  •  Since 2007, the issue and possibilities of including the subject of Religion in the list of compulsory subjects have been repeatedly considered.
  • In 2008 The Bulgarian Orthodox Church – Bulgarian Patriarchity drafted a comprehensive concept regarding the status of the subject Religion.
  • After this issue was once again put on the agenda and examined in detail in 2012, the status of the Religion subject as an optional or elective was finally confirmed, and measures were taken to reform the curriculum for this very important subject and bring it into line with EU requirements.
  • This was done in 2015 with the provision of the Preschool and School Education Act.
  • 2025 The subject “Virtues and Religions” is included in the curriculum within the framework of compulsory classes initially at the primary stage. There are three options: 1) Virtues (Ethics), 2) Religion – Christian Orthodoxy, and 3) Religion – Islam.
  • 31.07.2025 The Education Commission approves the introduction of the subject “Virtues and Religions“.

Today’s RE and teacher training

Nowadays, the subject isan elective subject. It is taught by qualified or trained primary and secondary teachers. Every Metropolitan has a trainer who meets, selects, and guides the teachers. A professional qualification is obtained at the theological faculties, where a one-year master’s course is studied, in which candidate teachers acquire a professional qualification.

Current debates and developments

In 2024, many of the public debates were resurrected and the idea of enlightenment was well received by the government. After the debates, every change in the law on preschool and school education is agreed upon by theologians and representatives of Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Islam, as well as by the Ministry of Education.

Мain part of the position of The Holy Synod of Bulgaria:

“The subject “Religion – Christian Orthodoxy” in secondary school would help students gain a more complete, in-depth and comprehensive understanding of a number of knowledge taught in other subjects, for which the teachers of these subjects do not have the relevant theological competence: history (the conversion of Bulgaria, the role of the Church in the formation of the Bulgarian people, the Bulgarian Renaissance, the role of the Church in Byzantium and in the Western European Middle Ages, etc.), Bulgarian language and literature (Christian images in numerous works of Bulgarian literature from its inception to the present day), physics and astronomy (the idea of creationism in modern physics, creationism and the “theory of everything”), fine arts (Christian subjects in Medieval and Renaissance art, Byzantine and Old Bulgarian icon painting), ethics and law (tolerance as a value that is born in the bowels of Christianity), philosophy (the concept of personality that appears in a Christian context) etc., etc.

The purpose of introducing the subject “Orthodoxy” is not indoctrination, that is, the formation of religious consciousness, but the teaching of knowledge that allows for the implementation of a competent and enlightened choice, as well as the systematic acquaintance in an accessible and interesting form with the tradition in which we have been living for more than 1000 years, which was interrupted during the period of state atheism. That is, this subject further contributes to the development of young people as responsible, free, conscious citizens, and also contributes to the restoration of social cohesion and cohesion in a society that is in a state of serious crisis and with tendencies of internal disintegration.”

This report was written by Shtelyan Dimov, 23.10.2025