Hundreds of Plovdiv residents bid a final goodbye to the metropolitan of Plovdiv, Arseni, on October 16. Arseni died suddenly on October 13 at the age of 74.

At a service held in Sveta Bogoroditsa, or Holy Mother Church, in Plovdiv, representatives of all religions in Plovdiv joined in paying their final respects to the man who had led the city’s eparchy for the past 19 years.

Transport and  Communications Minister Petar Moutafchiev represented the Government. Russia’s ambassador to Bulgaria, Anatoli Potapov, attended the service as well.
A day after Arseni died, the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (BOC) appointed the metropolitan of Varna and Preslav, Kiril, as “responsible for the Plovdiv eparchy until a successor of Arseni is elected”. The election of Arseni’s successor has to be done within 45 days after his death, according to BOC rules.

Rumoured candidates to replace Arseni include the bishops Nikolai and Evlogi. Nikolai is Patriarch Maxim’s metropolitan vicar. Evlogi is the head of the Rila Monastery. Another candidate for Arseni’s position is Genadi, head of the Monastery in Troyan.            

At the same time, however, rumours of dividing the Plovdiv eparchy were circling in the Bulgarian-language media.

On October 17, daily newspaper Monitor said that some of the metropolitans in the Holy Synod, together with priests from the Smolyan eparchy, were considering dividing Arseni’s eparchy into two parts, with the new centre of the eparchy moved from Plovdiv to Smolyan.

That may seem like an odd move. Plovdiv, as the second largest Bulgarian city, has always been one of the most influential religious centres in the country. But the battle for separating Smolyan from Plovdiv has a 30-year-long history.

Smolyan is the largest city in the east Rhodope mountains. Local priests have always been keen to give the city more responsibilities. At present, the Plovdiv eparchy covers Smolyan. But the long distance between the two cities - 90km on mountain roads - has long been cited as a problem by the city’s independently minded Orthodox community.

The issue of the election of a new Plovdiv metropolitan and the separation of Smolyan from the Plovdiv eparchy might turn into an issue in a future fight for the post of the next Bulgarian Orthodox Patriarch. The current Patriarch, Maxim, is 92 years old and, although enjoying strong support in the Holy Synod, has numerous health problems.
According to BOC statutes, a suitable candidate for Patriarch should be a metropolitan with no less than five years experience. He should be at least 50 years old and enjoy a good reputation among the people.

According to reports in the Bulgarian-language media, the BOC owns assets of close to five billion leva in property and land, which makes the BOC one of the most richest institutions in the country. The new Patriarch would have control over these assets.