On 21 January, the day on which the Orthodox Church celebrates St. Maksim confessor, the Bulgarian Patriarch Maksim who celebrated his 90th birthday last October received the “International Prize for the Unity of the Orthodox Peoples” from Russian Patriarch Alexis II. The ceremony was held in the Cathedral of “Christ the Saviour” in Moscow. Previous winners have included Serb Patriarch Pavle, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Bulgarian President Parvanov. In the press conference that preceded the award ceremony, Russian Patriarch Alexis II said: “I am delighted to receive one of the eldest patriarchs in the Orthodox world”. Alexis II also emphasized the personal contribution of Bulgarian Patriarch Maksim in overcoming the schism that had divided the Bulgarian Orthodox Church since 1992. The so-called alternative “synod” accused Maksim of having collaborated with the Communist regime and refused to accept him as head of the Church. After the approval of the new law on cults, the official Bulgarian Orthodox Church came into possession of the churches of the alternative synod and many of the schismatic priests returned to the fold. The schism in the Orthodox world is not only a problem in Bulgaria. In the Ukraine representatives of the local clergy would like to secede from the patriarchate of Moscow and be autonomous under the leadership of the former Metropolitan of Kiev Philaret. Similar voices are being heard also in Macedonia, where there are calls for secession from the Serb Orthodox Church.
