A Bulgarian priest between Cologne and The Hague

One of the characteristic features of the mission of Bulgarian priests abroad is that, in addition to serving in their main parish, they sometimes have to take on the spiritual care of other Bulgarian Orthodox church communities or missions. Often these are church communities that are located not just in other cities, but in other countries. These priests travel hundreds of kilometres to provide regular services in the Bulgarian language and spiritual care for compatriots abroad.

This is the daily routine of priest Nikolay Nikolov. He lives with his family in Germany and is a priest for Cologne, Brühl and their surroundings, but for a year he has been travelling to The Hague, the Netherlands, every week. He travels over 350 kilometres, holds a service, hears confessions, talks with his parishioners there, and then heads back to Germany.

The parish in The Hague was founded by priest Rumen Kalaidzhiev from Dobrinishte in 2000. In 2009, priest Yoan Manev was appointed there and he served in The Hague for 15 years until his death in 2024. After his death, the Bulgarian community in the Netherlands was left without a priest and Metropolitan Anthony of Western and Central Europe entrusted priest Nikolay Nikolov with the spiritual care of the Bulgarian compatriots there. At the same time, his service in Germany continues.

"I took the parish a year ago," Father Nikolay tells Radio Bulgaria's "Bridge of Faith" podcast, "because the old priest passed away. May God forgive him! I am, so to speak, close - 350 km away, so I come here three times a month. I try to come sometimes on Saturday, sometimes on Sunday, so that we can serve the needs of Orthodox Christians in the Netherlands."

Reflecting on the challenges of modern times and the role of the Church and faith in people's lives, Father Nikolay says:

"You see for yourself that it is very difficult in a world without God. With all the new things that emerge: depressions, panic attacks, etc. People are confused and because of this confusion they seek God. Thank God!"

In the Bulgarian church in The Hague, as well as in other Bulgarian churches in Western Europe, in addition to Bulgarians, regular visitors and members of the community are also people of other nationalities - often from other Orthodox churches, but also Dutch people from mixed marriages who have chosen Orthodoxy as their religion. According to Father Nikolay, they are attracted by the love for God and that difficult-to-explain synergy with God, with the Holy Spirit, which one feels in the Orthodox Church. "This is what is different. This cannot be explained." He, as well as the other Bulgarian clergy abroad, take into account the presence of these foreign-speaking brothers and sisters in Christ and try to make the service understandable for them as well.

"In Germany, for example, we read the Gospel and the Apostle in German and I preach in German sometimes, so that it reaches as many people as possible," he says, explaining that the fact people of other nationalities also come to the Bulgarian temple is also related to the fact that there are many Bulgarians in mixed marriages and by the grace of God they managed to bring their partner to Orthodoxy. When they come to the church, the warmth they feel, the love they feel from the Holy Spirit attracts them," he says.

He recalls that with God's help everything is possible and wishes: "May God's love reach more people. May the temple be full, may it always feel crowded inside. This is the greatest joy for a priest when the temple is full, when people confess and receive communion!"

He is pleased by the fact that many children also come to the church and as a spiritual shepherd and father of four children, he says:

"We are the ones who have to show children where they should go, because, as parents, as reasonable people, we very often talk to them about what is harmful, what is not, that they should eat more fruit and vegetables, and that they should not eat sweets. We always think about their well-being, but we do not tell them about eternal life and this is a very big mistake. We do not take them to church, we do not tell them about Christ, we do not show them icons, we do not read about the lives of the saints to them. If children are introduced to these things from an early age, it would be difficult for them to distort the path they would take."

This is what priest Nikolay Nikolov said and ended our conversation with the words: "Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Christ does not change. We change, as do our habits, our ideas about ourselves and what we want to achieve."