With his help we found the old parish church of the Parish “Saint Mironosizi” in Anakasa, Agii Anargiri. After that we spoke with the former consul Mr. Nikolai Karaivanov, who is a great patriot, so he took the idea very personally as well. With his help we spoke with the ambassador of Bulgaria in Greece Mr. Andrei Karaslavov and so we filed a request to the Bishopric of Athens, so that we can get the church. The governor of the Bishopric of Attica, Bishop Nikolai was happy to give us the church. The municipality of Athens helped us a lot too and especially mayor Mr. Nikolaos Sarandis. With the help of the Directorate of Religious Affairs and the Director back then Prof. Ivan Zhelev we were granted financial aid, with which we repaired the temple, because it was not used for almost ten years. We set the opening day of the church to be March 9, 2008, because then we celebrate the honor of the 40 Martyrs. Then it was also the start of Lent and we know that it is a new beginning for every Orthodox Christian.
The way Lent is a new beginning, we decided to set a new beginning for the Bulgarian community in Greece. On March 9 we served the first Holy liturgy and named the church after Bulgarian patron Saint Ivan Rilski – not only that he is the highest Bulgarian Saint but we also wanted to popularize his honor on Greek soil, because as we know his right is kept in Greece on Tinos island in the Kehrovounio monastery. It got here in an unknown way – there are many versions and in the future we plan to bring it to the church so people can pray to it.
How did your neighbors accept you?
Many of our neighbors come to confess here and I often ask them about the language barrier. They tell me “we like coming here, because this is our Bishopric church”. They were very happy when they learned that their old Bishopric church is opening doors again. Otherwise, there are negative people everywhere but they are much less than the ones who wish good to the church. There are many people in the neighborhood, who will help me whenever I knock on their door.
Not too long ago you celebrated the second anniversary of the church “Saint Ivan Rilski” in Athens. How did it go?
The Bulgarian church “Saint Ivan Rilski” celebrated its church holiday on October 24 and 25, for the second time after its foundation. Despite the rain our fellow countrymen and women filled the church, many of them even stood in front of it, because there was no room inside.
Have there been changes in the Bulgarian community for the past few years?
This is a very strong word. The only thing I have noticed – it was harder before…there were many legal problems, people couldn’t go back to Bulgaria often, there were even people who haven’t gone back in years. Now it is easier – there are so many busses leaving for Bulgaria daily.
You know that now at the border we only show our ID. Back then people needed many cultural events in comparison to now. I am very happy that the Bulgarian school here is becoming bigger. It employs many decent people – teachers, who do not waste time, because the Bulgarian community here is about to get even bigger. All those children should not be born here and left without knowing their native language. I have even heard many Greeks say – how is it possible for your children not to speak your native language?!?! So we can learn some national dignity from them. When we need to, to be able to say proud that we are Bulgarians. And not just to wave flags. This is how changes happened – borders opened and people can move freely.
I believe it is bad that people pay too much attention to everyday life. I would recommend to everybody to spend one hour per day for themselves, because some people have taken the road to somewhere and they have even forgotten that they exist. And a person is not a robot. And sooner or later something can bring the fatal end. So I believe every person should separate some time for him or herself – to relax, because with the rhythm “Go fast” we will not get anywhere.
Are there plans to create a cultural center in Athens?
The church, school and the cultural center are the three main factors, which keep up the Bulgarian spirit in Athens and if you wish – in Greece. When you asked me this question I remembered the fable by Petko Rachov Slavejkov “Eagle, crab and pike*”. Here everybody pulls to wherever they like. We will not achieve anything this way. We have made some gatherings. I would like to take the occasion and thank the Bulgarian school for their trust in me. But if we do not unite, nothing will happen. There are so many associations – you pay in court, gather 20 people, sign and you have an association. But the association needs to be one – a Bulgarian community (I do not mean the Rosen Hristov association) and that’s it… Everybody here wants to distinguish him/herself – the personal ego has gone above and beyond…
There are alternatives to everything – to the Bulgarian church, to the associations, newspapers, radios and to whatever… This speaks very badly about us. We are the most divided of all nations.
It maybe because there are too many Bulgarians in Greece?!
I do not believe this is the reason. There are many Albanians too. It is all about consciousness. To dull the ego and all personal interests. The embassy helps as much as it can but there is a proverb that says “God helps you but cannot get inside a cage”.
* Eagle, crab and pike fable by Petko Rachov Slavejkov
Eagle and crab and pike
I don’t know for what fluke
Such work they had to do
To pull together a car
And so they start
They pull and pull
And they will burst from pulling
But the car does not move.
They could move it easy
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
