Georgi Eldarov was born on February 27, 1926, in Zornitsa village, Yambol district. When he was only 12, through church channels he left for Assisi. A little later the Second World War broke out. Monsignor Eldarov graduated in theology from the Pontifical Theological Faculty in Rome in 1947. He taught in several Roman universities. He was the only Bulgarian theologian a consultant and expert at the Second Vatican Council from 1960 to 1965. He received his archimandrite order on June 19, 1966, in the Church of San Clemente, where the grave of St. Cyril is. He was head of the Bulgarian section of Radio Vatican. He was the first apostolic visitator in charge of the Bulgarians all over the world and the first apostolic to Bulgaria.

Archimandrite Eldarov is founder of the Bulgarian Cultural Centre “Abagar” in Rome and editor-in-chief of “Abagar” newspaper, publication of the Bulgarian Church Archives in Rome.

We met in May 1997, when I visited Rome and the Vatican with a Bulgarian cultural delegation led by the Vice President Todor Kavalgjiev. Prof. Eldarov was one of the most remarkable hosts in this unforgettable journey. He welcomed us in his “Abagar” home near Rome, a harbour of Bulgarian history and literature. And seven years after we meet again, this time in Bulgaria.

What has changed in your life since 1997?
First of all I moved the burden of the activities of “Abagar” to Bulgaria. I brought my collection of books and documents here and although I am still living between Rome and Sofia I am paying more attention to my work here.

Why are you interested in the subject of the history of the Goths and their presence in our lands?
Because before the Slavs and the Proto-Bulgarians there were Goths in our lands, which is not mentioned in our history. Our historiographers pass them over and reckon them among the barbarians. Their historical traces go back to the 10th c., the time of Khan Krum. Some sources show that the Goths were about 1 million.

Do you plan to continue the tradition of “Abagar” in carrying out a colloquium on historical, religious and cultural problems concerning Bulgaria?
Yes, on April 15 this year, in Nadezhda Hall of Sofia City Library the 31st Abagar colloquium was held. It was dedicated to a forgotten anniversary, 100 years of the end of the pontificate of Pope Leo XIII, which perhaps means nothing to the ordinary people. The Archbishop of Perugia was proclaimed Pope on March 3, 1878. He had a particular attitude to Bulgaria, a certain vision of its place and role in Southeastern Europe, which is practically implemented only now with the integration of the country in the European structures.

Pope Leo XIII promoted the mission of the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius and for the first time put them in the calendar of the Universal Church. With this act the holy brothers were made a cult for all Catholics in the world, which is an enormous recognition for Bulgarian culture and literature, and the day itself was first celebrated on July 7, 1880.

His Holiness had a clear view of the borders of the Bulgarian national spirit, borders never achieved in terms of politics or church influence. As early as 1883 he traced these borders beyond Thessalonike and Adrianopole. He appointed two Catholic bishops – for the two cities in a moment of our history when the Bulgarian Exarchate did not have this opportunity. And the Catholics were a minority among the mass Christian population in these lands (Kukush, Adrianopole and Malko Tarnovo). These facts are substantiated by documents from the Vatican’s secret archives.

How do you define yourself – as a theologian, a Christian, a historian, a Bulgarian or Italian?
Inevitably, always and without exception as a Bulgarian. In my library I have about 30 000 books related to Bulgaria and the Bulgarian interests, I also keep some archives of Robert College.

What in the archives would be most interesting for the modern people?
I have to explain that I keep books from the Bulgarian department of Robert College library. The Bulgarian students who studied there were about 40% of all students. Today its building is of the Technical University of Istanbul. Often the authors of the books left a dedication as is the case with Gavril Krastevich, who wrote the history of the Bulgarians in the pre-Liberation period. The college alumni were the first readers of a large part of the Bulgarian books at the time. And rare Russian editions also came there. In this archive there are most of the European periodicals of the time and some of the first publications of Tolstoy, Turgenev, Chekhov and Dostoyevsky.

An American author Leland Buxton, in his book “The Black Sheep of the Balkans” wrote: “Bulgaria is the most American country of Europe in terms of spirit.” And explained this with the fact that “The ideas of democracy and progress are incorporated there”. The Bulgarian students who graduated from Robert College became part of the European and world elite (ambassadors, ministers, writers, and public figures). One of the college teachers Mr. Panaretov became the first ambassador to Washington. I knew some of the living students of this elite school.

We are already in the 21st c. In your eyes, have people changed since World War II?
There is a big difference but I don’t know if it has come with the beginning of the new century. Perhaps the change is, as they say today, in the globalisation. Today we are able to see the world, the good and the bad things as if on some kind of a world screen, how we suffer, but also how other people suffer somewhere else. So, on one hand, we can see the globality of a suffering, and on the other, the insignificance of our case.

Would you share with our readership your attitude to the first comments of the Catholic Church about Mel Gibson’s movie “The Passion of Christ” where there’s also Bulgarian participation?
I have not seen the movie yet, so my information is indirect. I am excited by one of the ideas that the modern world is not just in the role of the sinner and of the corrupted but has also lost the consciousness of sin and sinfulness.

Why can’t the Kingdom of Heaven be divided into empires? These are your words?
I meant the relations between churches and religions. When one of them claims to control a certain territory we return to the times of colonialism. Our Catholic Church already accepts the people of different faith, especially Orthodox Christians, like real brothers. I have a very treasured memory of the audience that Pope Paul VI gave to Metropolitan Pimen. It was in 1980. When Pimen thanked the Pope for receiving him, His Holiness told me: “Tell His Eminence Metropolitan Pimen that I will never refuse an audience to a Bulgarian Metropolitan.”

Has your tolerance been built in the course of time?
Everything starts from the family. Especially as one of my parents was a Catholic and the other – Orthodox. I can say that over 1200 people from 25 nationalities, 8 different religions and some atheists have dined and stayed for the night at my “Abagar” home in Rome.

Do the envoys of the Catholic Church around the world play the role of diplomats?
The Catholic Church is the only one that has diplomatic representatives, mainly because its seat is in fact the sovereign state of Vatican. The first Pontifical State dates back to the end of the 6th century, the time of Pope Gregory I, and kept its territorial independence until 1870. Later, during the 25-year pontificate of Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) sovereignty was gained without the Vatican having its own territory. This was the first Pope to openly fight for the right of freedom of the different ethnoses. He fought for the liberalisation of the Catholic Church, for its overcoming the crisis and for the establishment of diplomatic relations with the other countries in the world. The Great Powers have often invited His Holiness as an arbiter in their arguments. Bismark asked him for advice for solving one of the conflicts between Germany and Spain.

And today, in the conditions of a new world order, His Holiness Pope John Paul II is not only a continuator of the ideas and the deed of Pope Leo XIII but is also the most persevering intercessor of peace on the planet.

Do politicians listen to the advice of God’s people?
I recall the thought of Machiavelli: “The first task of anyone who climbs to power is to liberate himself from the tutelage of those who helped him rise.” And concretely to your question – it depends on whether the politicians want to be advised. It also depends on the authority of the Church representative, particularly on moral authority, because if you preach one thing and do another – what authority can we speak of…

Are you optimistic about the future of Bulgaria after the full NATO membership and the upcoming European Union accession?
Yes, I was optimistic even before we joined NATO and before entering Europe. We don’t have the excuse that we have no freedom, that the East is pulling us. We are already free to forge our own destiny. In the 1970s I did nÓt hope that this would happen so soon. The ever-deepening economic interests of West European countries to Bulgaria are an irreversible fact. The preservation of our national identity and culture, the education of Bulgarian children far from the drugs, pornography and crime is a different question.

Raina Yotova