e Communists took power; however, according to
various estimates in 1965 there were about 750,000 Muslims; 26,000
Protestants; 32,000 Roman Catholics; and between 3,000 and 7,000 Jews.
The Muslim population included most Turks and some 50,000 Pomaks
(Bulgarians who converted to Islam during Turkish rule) living in the
rugged Rodopi mountain range.

Religious freedom is guaranteed by the constitution, but churches are
subject to strict governmental control. Formal religious education is
restricted to the training of priests. Children, however, continue to be
instructed in the rudiments of faith and ritual by their families.
Despite government efforts to secularize the milestones in the life
cycle, a large percentage of Bulgarians continue to regard the priest as
an essential officiant at baptisms, weddings, and funerals. Churchgoing
and the strict fasts prescribed by the Eastern Orthodox church have not
been carefully observed by most Bulgarians since the 1930s;
nevertheless, the people often exhibit strong religious feelings
tempered by traditional beliefs in the powers of nature, the evil eye,
and other forces. A survey conducted by the Bulgarian Academy of
Sciences in the mid-1960s classified 35.5 percent of those surveyed as
religious and 64.4 percent as nonreligious. The criteria used to
determine whether a person was religious or not was either a verbal
expression of religious conviction or regular attendance at church
services and regular prayer.

THE FAMILY

Until the time of World War I Bulgarian society was frequently
characterized as familistic, that is, personal interests and
prerogatives of an individual were subordinated to the values and
demands of the family. The family was the focal unit in society; it was
the chief training ground for the young and played the leading part in
molding the individual into the accepted pattern. The family was the
center of economic life also, particularly for the peasants, who lived
relatively self-sufficient lives. Relations with other social units and
institutions were carried out through the family rather than by the
individual. An individual had no standing in society apart from that of
his family, and individual behavior and prestige reflected on the family
as a whole. Individualism, therefore, was discouraged by constant
pressure from the family to conform to custom and tradition.

The traditional family was patriarchal and strongly authoritarian. It
reflected