Joseph I (Exarch)

Exarch Joseph I.

Josef I. , also written Josif ( Bulgarian Йосиф I. ), born as Lasar Jowtschew (Bulgarian Лазар Йовчев; born May 5, 1840 in Kalofer ; † June 20, 1915 in Sofia ) was a Bulgarian prelate , politician, exarch and head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church , as well as one of the activists of the Bulgarian National Revival .

Life

Lasar Jowtschew was born on May 5, 1840 in the town of Kalofer in the Balkan Mountains , where he also received his school education. At the school led by Botjo Petkow (father of the Bulgarian poet and freedom fighter Christo Botew ) he was a student and later a teacher. Later he attended with the help of a scholarship from merchants from his hometown, the then prestigious French college in Bebek near Istanbul , which was founded by Catholic missionaries. At the age of 24, Lasar Jowtschew traveled to Paris , where he studied literature and law at the Sorbonne . After 6 years he returned to Istanbul and found a job at the Central Ottoman Commercial Court. At the same time he also took up his journalistic and interpreting activities.

The Bulgarian Church gained ecclesiastical independence and the Bulgarian Exarchate was founded during this period . In 1872 the young lawyer accepted the invitation to become secretary and clerk of the Exarchate Council. The newly elected Exarch Antim I , who came to Istanbul at that time, found in him an eager and active colleague and helper. In 1872 Lasar Jowtschew decided to devote his life entirely to the young Bulgarian church, received the monk ordination and took the name Joseph. The lawyer and publicist quickly turned away from his secular career in order to climb the ladder of the ecclesiastical hierarchy to the last step - the exarch office - within five years. In the next 3-4 years he took part in the development of the church organization, traveled several times to the areas for which the Bulgarian Exarchate was responsible and met regularly with representatives of the great powers .

From 1875 he headed the Vidin eparchy for one year before he was elected Metropolitan of the Lovetsch eparchy in the spring of 1876 . As such, he supported the April uprising of 1876 . After its bloody suppression, Metropolitan Josef returned to Istanbul, where he supported the exarch Antim I during the international conference of Constantinople in 1876/1877 . The appearance of the exarch Antim I and his pro-Russian attitude cost him the exarch throne before the Russo-Ottoman war .

Head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church

The territory of the Bulgarian Exarchate

Exarch Josef was born on April 22nd ^. / May 4, 1877 ^greg. raised to the head of the Bulgarian Church in a very difficult time, namely at the beginning of the Russian-Turkish War of Liberation from 1877 to 1878, which finally brought the long-awaited liberation from Ottoman rule. The joy after the conclusion of the peace treaty of San Stefano , by which all territories with a majority Bulgarian population were united in one state and roughly corresponded to the area of ​​the Bulgarian exarchate, did not last long. The major European powers did not want to tolerate a “Greater Bulgaria” under Russian tutelage, which is why they revised the San Stefano agreements at the Berlin Congress . The Principality of Bulgaria then shrank to the area between the Danube and the Balkan Mountains. Southern Bulgaria , also known as Eastern Rumelia , became a Turkish province with full self-government and Macedonia was completely reintegrated into the Ottoman Empire . This division of land and the growing financial difficulties also had an impact on church life.

On April 27, 1892, on his initiative, the foundation stone was laid for the new construction of St. Stephen's Cathedral in the Fener district of Istanbul .

In order to maintain contact with the believers who still lived in the non-liberated areas, Exarch Joseph stayed in the Turkish capital until autumn 1913. His diplomatic skills were particularly important at this time - he was always tactful, moderate and loyal to the Sultan. The more than ten highest Ottoman orders and medals which he received from the Sublime Porte testify to this . From the memories of contemporaries it can be seen that the Sultan, who had dozens of encounters with the Bulgarian exarch, felt a great respect for his open and honest politics.

His relations with the Bulgarian rulers Alexander Battenberg and Ferdinand von Sachsen-Coburg and Gotha , from whom he was also honored with state awards, were similarly good . He used these contacts to expand and consolidate the structures of the Bulgarian Church. Through his work he was able to obtain permission for the appointment of bishops in Skopje , Ohrid , Newrokop , Veles , Bitola , Strumica and Debar . In addition, 8 dioceses were created in Macedonia and one in the Edirne area. Exarch Josef also tried to educate the Bulgarians in the non-liberated areas, where he was able to open 1,400 schools by 1912. Thus the Bulgarian Exarchate united those territories into an ethnographic whole that were recognized by the Peace Treaty of San Stefano.

The last decade that Exarch Joseph spent in Istanbul was marked by difficulties and problems as he had to stand up day after day for Bulgarian interests in Macedonia and the Edirne area. The two Balkan Wars led Bulgaria into a national catastrophe. After the signing of the Bucharest Peace Treaty in July 1913 , the dioceses in the non-liberated areas were separated from the Bulgarian Exarchate and Exarch Joseph was forced to move to the Bulgarian capital Sofia . Very bitter about this, he blamed Prince Ferdinand for this development and became his political opponent.

Despite his deteriorating health and advanced age, he remained head of the Bulgarian Church until the end of his life.

Exarch Josef died on June 20, 1915 and was found near the altar in the cathedral church “St. Alexander Nevski ”is buried in Sofia. He is still highly valued in Bulgaria for his work. He himself became the namesake of many school and training institutions.

See also

• Bulgarian rebirth

literature

• Petar Angelow: Istorija na Balgarija . SOFI-R, Sofia 2003, Volume 1: ISBN 954-638-121-7 , Volume 2: ISBN 954-638-122-5
• Hans-Dieter Döpmann : Church in Bulgaria from the beginning to the present . Biblion Verlag, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-932331-90-7
• Velichko Georgiev, Stajko Trifonow: Exarch, the Bulgarian Josef. Letters and documents, Klub 90, Sofia 1994, ISBN 954-596-007-8
• Gunnar Hering : The Conflict of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Bulgarian Exarchate with the Porte 1890. In: Südost-Forschungen , Volume 47, 1988, pp. 187-208
• Đoko Slijepčević: Josif I. In: Mathias Bernath, Felix von Schroeder (eds.), Gerda Bartl (ed.): Biographical encyclopedia for the history of Southeast Europe . Volume 2. Oldenbourg, Munich 1976, ISBN 3-486-49241-1 , p. 299 f. Comment.
• Hristo Temelski: Exarch Josef I. Verlag Kama, 2006
• Hristo Temelski: Exarch Josef I. in the memories of his companions . Kliment Ohridski University Press , Sofia 1995, ISBN 954-07-0530-4

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hans-Joachim Böttcher: Ferdinand von Sachsen-Coburg and Gotha 1861-1948 - A cosmopolitan on the Bulgarian throne . Osteuropazentrum Berlin-Verlag (Anthea Verlagsgruppe), Berlin 2019, ISBN 978-3-89998-296-1 , p. 275-256 .

Web links

Commons : Josef I.  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Short biography Exarch Josef (bulg.)

predecessor	Office	successor
Antim I.	Exarch of Bulgaria 1877 - 1915	Stefan I.