Maksim Minkov Patriarch of Bulgaria Date of Birth: 29.10.1914 Country: Bulgaria

Biography of Maxim Minkov

Born in a pious family in the village of Oreshak, near the Trojan Monastery, Maxim (Minkov) is the Patriarch of Bulgaria. He was deeply influenced by the brotherhood of the holy monastery during his childhood. Maxim graduated from the Sofia Seminary with honors in 1935 and completed his theological studies at the Faculty of Theology of Sofia State University in 1942. On December 13, 1941, he took monastic vows with the name Maxim, and a week later, on December 19, he was ordained as a deacon. After a brief service as a deacon in the town of Lovech, Maxim was appointed as a teacher and educator at the Sofia Seminary from 1942 to 1947.

On May 14, 1944, Father Maxim was ordained as a hieromonk, and on October 12, 1947, he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and appointed as the protosynkellos of the Dorostol-Chervenskaya Diocese. In 1950, by the decision of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Archimandrite Maxim was appointed as the head of the Bulgarian church in Moscow. He served in Moscow for almost six years, until the end of 1955. During this time, Father Maxim expanded his knowledge of the Russian Orthodox Church, acquainted himself with its archpastors and pastors, and gained the love of his parishioners.

Upon his return to Bulgaria, Archimandrite Maxim was appointed as the chief secretary of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Church (1955-1960) and the chairman of the editorial board of synodal periodicals (1957-1960). On December 30, 1956, he was consecrated as the bishop of Branitsa, and on October 30, 1960, he was proclaimed as the metropolitan of Lovech.

In the Church Council of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, held from July 4 to 8, 1971, in Sofia, Metropolitan Maxim, who had been leading the Bulgarian Church as the Deputy Chairman of the Holy Synod after the death of Patriarch Cyril, was elected as the new Primate of the Bulgarian Church. The enthronement of the newly elected patriarch took place on July 4 at the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia. Patriarch Pimen of Moscow and All Russia, in his welcoming words to the newly elected Bulgarian Patriarch, described him as a prominent hierarch, marked by many virtues, "necessary for the fulfillment of his responsible ministry." In 1974, the Council of Sofia Spiritual Academy awarded Patriarch Maxim an honorary degree of Doctor of Theology for his theological works. To commemorate his 60th birthday, the Synodal Publishing House in Sofia published a collection of his works titled "In the Field of the Lord" (Sofia, 1975), which included speeches, sermons, and articles by Patriarch Maxim from 1950 to 1974.