Factions vie for control of Bulgarian church here

Communism may have fallen in Eastern Europe, but its legacy stillhaunts St. Sophia Bulgarian Orthodox Church here.

Factions in the 8-year-old dispute for control of thecongregation at 3827 N. Lawndale squared off Tuesday in Cook CountyCircuit Court, arguing over local vs. hierarchical, spiritual vs.administrative rule.

One group of members, with the backing of the diocesan bishopfrom Akron, Ohio, filed suit asking that three defendants stop"interfering" with church operations and turn over its records andbank accounts.

Most importantly, they want the church declared under thereligious and canonical jurisdiction of the Bulgarian OrthodoxChurch, governed by Bishop Joseph Velichky of Akron.

Defendants contend the church is independent. They and othersfounded the St. Sophia Corp. in 1946 and erected the church in 1973in a former two-flat, free of hierarchical control, they said.

The bishop is at worst a communist agent or at best acollaborator, they contend. The hierarchy in Bulgaria, where he isfrom, aligned itself with the former government, they said.

Further, they contend the bishop was never elected by laity ofthe diocese as bylaws require, and St. Sophia members can - and have- hired and fired priests without hierarchical approval.

St. Sophia is the only Eastern Orthodox church in Chicagoserving Bulgarians. It is a community of a few thousand people,litigants said.

The case began in 1983 when a female parishioner accused theparish priest, the Rev. Valentine Notzkov, of sexual harassment.

A majority of members voted to oust Notzkov, the third priest tobe removed in about a decade.

The bishop got involved in the dispute, but was asked to leaveby some parishioners. He later order the removal of the church'sexecutive committee, named a new governing group and kept the priestin office.

A Circuit Court judge ruled in favor of the current plaintiffsin 1984, but was reversed in 1987 by the Illinois Appellate Court.Since then, two judges in the case have died. A gag order has beenin effect most of the time.

Accusations of communist collaboration and squabbles overproperty rights have plagued other Eastern Orthodox national churcheshere, especially the Serbs, for much the same reasons as those facingthe Bulgarians.

Illinois does have a statute recognizing "corporation sole,"which gives title to all church property to a local bishop. However,it applies only to the Roman Catholic Church.

The case is likely to be continued until the end of month toallow the bishop, currently in Bulgaria, to testify, said Sherman F.Jaffe, the plaintiffs' attorney.