The Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate (BOC-BP) unanimously expresses a negative opinion regarding the renaming of the square in front of the Patriarchal Cathedral "St. Alexander Nevsky". The position was adopted at the meeting of the Holy Synod on December 10, 2024 in full, BNR reported.
"The square in front of the cathedral is an integral part of the history of our Motherland and is an inseparable part of all events related to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate over the last hundred years, which makes it not just a municipal square, but an unchanging historical place, directly related to the Patriarchal Cathedral "St. Alexander Nevsky", the position of the Synod states.
And further: "The names of the squares in the capitals and large cities of the member states of the European Union correspond to the names of the cathedrals built by Christian believers over the centuries, and have invariably preserved their names to this day, regardless of the political situation.
We will cite only some of the examples: the square in front of the cathedral in Brussels "St. Michael and St. Gudula" is named after St. Gudula, the square "St. Peter" in Rome, the square "San Marco" in Venice, the square "Piazza del Duomo" - Milan. Moreover, in a number of cities, not only the squares, but also all the streets around them bear the name of the cathedral, as in Vienna, Copenhagen, Budapest, Munich, Thessaloniki and Barcelona.
"In all these cities, as well as in our beloved capital city of Sofia, the squares are named after the temple where it was built, because the square stands out as a significant place, not only in itself, but because of the enormous spiritual significance of the temple that towers above it.
This is why the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church – Bulgarian Patriarchate unanimously opposes the renaming of the square in front of the Patriarchal Cathedral – – – – – – – in the capital city of Sofia,– the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church-BP also stated.