Cleric offers Rolex for church's bill
2013-02-26 21:39
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Sofia - A top Bulgarian cleric accused of leading a
privileged lifestyle, has offered his luxurious Rolex watch to pay his
cash-strapped church's electricity bills.
"Plovdiv Metropolitan Nikolay has offered one of his
few personal objects, a Rolex watch, to the Saint Marina church, requesting
that it be sold so that the electricity bill can be paid," said the
church, one of the main ones in the central Bulgarian city of Plovdiv.
Bulgaria's Orthodox Church is the largest property owner
in the country after the state but is short on liquid funds and its clergy
receive a pittance in salary.
It has come under fire for accepting donations from rich
patrons eager for respectability.
Nikolay's Rolex watch and a Lincoln car owned by his
counterpart in the city of Varna, for example, have spurred numerous comments
in the press.
The cost of electricity in Bulgaria more than doubled in
January from December, sending tens of thousands into the streets in protests
that led last week to Prime Minister Boyko Borisov's resignation.
- SAPA
