I do not believe in very dramatic predictions, since attempts at registration have been going on for many years. The Old Style movement in Bulgaria began back in 1916, when the Gregorian calendar was introduced in our country. This was said in the program "The Day Live" on Nov News by the historian and former director of the Directorate of Religious Denominations, Prof. Hristo Matanov, on the occasion of the decision of the Supreme Court of Cassation of December 16, which entered in the public register of the court under Art. 18 of the Law on Religious Denominations, a religious institution with the name "Bulgarian Orthodox Old-Style Church", and the subsequent fears that this court decision will lead to a schism in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
It is a schism, if we assume that in the dispute between Old-Style and New-Style there is a dogmatic difference between the two churches. The dispute is not only about the calendar. The first thing that arises is the skipping of 12, 13 or 14 days, depending on the century in which we are counting. Opponents of the reform say that the removal of days means the removal of saints, and therefore it is a sin, added Prof. Matanov.
The dispute is very complex. What the Supreme Court of Cassation ruled should not deal with dogmatic issues, but rather assess the extent to which the laws of the Republic of Bulgaria allow the registration of such a church, the former director of the Directorate for Religious Denominations pointed out.
I would advise the Supreme Court of Cassation to be guided by the statements of Bulgarian politicians, since there is not a single politician, including the Prime Minister and the President, who has not expressed a negative attitude towards the registration. The new law assumes that the court makes its decisions after taking into account the opinions of the Directorate for Religious Denominations and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. I also follow the statements of the Bulgarian Patriarch, who no longer speaks so harshly in relation to the decisions. The only reproach is to the word "Orthodox", said Prof. Hristo Matanov.