The
Bulgarian Orthodox Church (,
Balgarska pravoslavna tsarkva) is the oldest
Slavic Orthodox Church with some 6.5 million members in the Republic of
Bulgaria and between 1.5 and 2.0 million members in a number of European countries,
the Americas and
Australia. The recognition of the independent status of the Bulgarian Church by the
Patriarchate of Constantinople in 927 AD made the Bulgarian Church one of the earliest churches to be established in the world.