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

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

Bulgarian Orthodox Church The Bulgarian Orthodox Church (), legally the Patriarchate of Bulgaria (), is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox jurisdiction based in Bulgaria. It is the first medieval recognised patriarchate outside the Pentarchy and t ...

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 and then studied Orthodox Theology at

Sofia University Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" () is a public university, public research university in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is the oldest institution of higher education in Bulgaria. Founded on 1 October 1888, the edifice of the university was constr ...

, from which he graduated in 1935 with honours. In 1942 he graduated from the Saint Clement of Ohrid 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 ...

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 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 Eastern Orthodox Church in Bulgaria. It existed between 1992 and 2015. History In 1991 the new Bulgarian government create ...

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

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