Bulgarian President urges resignations to help end church split

The President of Bulgaria, Petar Stoyanov, has urged feuding church leaders to resign to help resolve a seven year dispute.

Speaking at a ceremony to commemorate a revered Bulgarian poet and revolutionary Hristo Botev,the President said it was scandalous that Bulgaria's Orthodox Church was still divided, adding that statesmen should not be held hostage to wrangling bishops.

The Bulgarian church split in 1991, between supporters of Patriarch Maxim, the church leader under communist rule, and a splinter group led by Metropolitan Pymen, who accused the Patriarch of collaborating with the communist secret police.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service