Disunity in religion – a good reason to live together

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         It is from my father's aunt that I have heard stories about the way Bulgarian, Turkish and Judeic families from her village lived together. They lived peacefully maintaining good neighborly relations. They showed respect for the faith of their neighbours and took into account the rules  that the different groups of people practised. The education of the children was based on giving good example and maintaining friendly relations. This attitude was handed down to the coming generations. For that reason the ethnic groups in that village are living happily together. What is different today is the sad fact that a lot of people have left the village and there are no children there. Turkish and Jewish people used to congratulate the Bulgarians at Christmas and Easter days. They celebrated together those holydays. I was impressed by what my aunt told me about the funeral of her mother. Lots of people of all the denominations from the village rendered homage to her in the village church in the Bulgarian Christian tradition.

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         On the sightseeing tour in the centre of Sofia I saw the Russian church the Alexander Nevski cathedral, we walked around the Mosque and not far from it was the Synagogue. My mother told me that not far away there is a Catholic church, which is close to the mosque and the St Nedelya Orthodox church. I was also told that in nearly all the big cities like Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas there are temples of different religions – Christianity, Islam, Judaism. That is why I think that in Bulgaria peaceful coexistence of different religious communities is traditional. Recently, as a result of the emigration crisis in Europe there is some unfriendliness to people of different religions. According to me, young people in Bulgaria don’t know well even their own religion, its origin or the basic rules in it. I suppose that few people know the Ten Commandments from the Bible.

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         Actually, those Commandments are appreciated by Jewish, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox people. If we knew more about the different religions, we would probably be more considerate and able to understand the various communities. Ignorance is a source of hatred and lack of understanding between people. Once upon a time people from different communities lived around the churches in Sofia. They were good neighbours, showed respect and helped each-other. But they also knew and observed the traditions that were passed on from one generation to the next one.