The "Easter Action" of 1860 is the climax of Bulgarian fights for church indepence during the Ottoman opression period. April 3, 1860, during the official church service in the Bulgarian church St Stefan (see the photo above) in Constantinople,Metropolitan Ilarion Makariopolski for the first time did not mention the name of the Universal Greek Patriarch, but instead mentioned "each orthodox episcopy", as only the representative of an autonomuos church was allowed to say at tha\\t time...
With these words, Ilarion Makariopolski symbolically rejects the authority of the Greek Patriarchy over the Bulgarian Church. The Easter Action had been organized in advance by BG church leaders and representatives in Constantinople.