From State-Socialist Atheism to Orthodox Christian Nationalism: Re-enchantment, Tradition, and Constitutional Court Discourse in Bulgaria
From State-Socialist Atheism to Orthodox Christian Nationalism: Re-enchantment, Tradition, and Constitutional Court Discourse in Bulgaria

Summary/Abstract: This article examines the reactivation of Orthodoxy and tradition as resources for the Orthodox nationalism that has gained momentum in Bulgaria in recent years. It analyses the discourse of this new Orthodox nationalism as articulated in Decision No. 15/2021 of the Bulgarian Constitutional Court and demonstrates how judicial interpretation transforms a symbolic constitutional reference to religion into a normative constitutional resource, thereby constitutionalizing Orthodox nationalism through the re-enchantment of constitutional discourse. The article traces the transformation of constitutional discourse surrounding the interpretation of Article 13(3) of the Constitution, which provides that Eastern Orthodox Christianity is the traditional religion of Bulgaria. It argues that Orthodox nationalism in post-socialist Bulgaria is not merely an expression of religious revival but rather of a process of re-enchantment of constitutional discourse, in which Orthodox Christianity becomes sacralised as the moral and historical foundation of the Bulgarian nation and a legitimate source for interpreting the Constitution.

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