Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...

Maxim (Maximus) ( bg, Патриарх Максим) (Marin Naydenov Minkov, October 29, 1914 – November 6, 2012) was the head of the

Bulgarian Orthodox Church The Bulgarian Orthodox Church ( bg, Българска православна църква, translit=Balgarska pravoslavna tsarkva), legally the Patriarchate of Bulgaria ( bg, Българска патриаршия, links=no, translit=Balgarsk ...

from 1971 until his death. He was born in Oreshak, the second of the two children of Nayden Minkov Rachev and Pena Bordzhukova, but very little is known about his parents' background. He was educated only in his native mountain village of Oreshak but from his late childhood, he became a novice monk in the

Troyan Monastery The Monastery of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God ( bg, Троянски манастир „Успение Богородично“) or, as it is more commonly called, the Troyan Monastery is the third largest monastery in Bulgaria. I ...

and then studied Orthodox Theology at

Sofia University Sofia University, "St. Kliment Ohridski" at the University of Sofia, ( bg, Софийски университет „Св. Климент Охридски“, ''Sofijski universitet „Sv. Kliment Ohridski“'') is the oldest higher education i ...

, from which he graduated in 1935 with honours. In 1942 he graduated from the Saint Clement of Ochrid State University of Sofia. He took Holy Orders in 1941 and became secretary general of the

Holy Synod In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod. For instance, the Holy Synod is a ruling body of the Georgian Orthodox C ...

in 1955 and

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of ''Branit'' on December 30, 1956. In 1960, he was elected Metropolitan of

Lovech Lovech ( bg, Ловеч, Lovech, ) is a List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, city in north-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the Lovech Province and of the subordinate Lovech Municipality. The city is located about northeast f ...

on October 30, 1960, and won the election as

on July 4, 1971, after Patriarch Kyril died. In the early 1990s, a split in the Bulgarian Church was stimulated by the government of the Union of Democratic Forces, based on the alleged cooperation and affiliation of Maxim with the former regime. However, Maxim was able to take control of the majority of the parishes and to prevent any schismatic threats within the Church. The faction against Maxim formed the

Bulgarian Orthodox Church – Alternative synod The Bulgarian Orthodox Church – Alternative synod was an Eastern Orthodox Church that claimed to be the sole legitimate Orthodox Church in Bulgaria, between 1992 and 2015. History In 1991 the new Bulgarian government created a Board of Religi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maxim (Patriarch) 1914 births 2012 deaths People from Troyan Patriarchs of Bulgaria Christian Peace Conference members Sofia University alumni