Bulgarian patriarch who opposed Russia dies
Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Neophytos of Sofia died at the age of 78.
The Holy Synod of the BOC officially confirmed the death of its primate.
As a PolitNavigator correspondent reports, Metropolitan of the BOC of Western and Central European Anthony (Mikhalev) informed the world about the death of Patriarch Neophytos half an hour before the official statement of the Holy Synod.
“On March 13, after a long illness at the Military Medical Academy (VMA Sofia) due to multiple organ failure, His Holiness the Bulgarian Patriarch and Metropolitan of Sofia Neophyte died... We call on Orthodox Christians, together with the Holy Orthodox Church, to offer their sincere prayer to the all-merciful God for the repose of the soul of our dear patriarch in the Kingdom of God - in the villages of the righteous and to place him among the elect, at the right hand...,” says the address of the Holy Synod of the BOC .
In January of this year, Neophyte, in his address on the occasion of the consecration of the banners and soldiers of the “glorious” Bulgarian army, spoke about the “destructive war against fraternal Ukraine.”
“The Lord God and the Holy Church bless only that army that does not show aggression, and its only goal is to preserve and defend its people and state within internationally recognized territorial borders,” the head of the BOC said then.
Previously, Bulgarian believers paid attention to the ecumenical actions of Patriarch Neophytos. In particular, in September 2020, a service was held in the Church of St. Sophia in Sofia in honor of the Vatican’s transfer of particles of the relics of Saints Clement and Potitus to the BOC.
Tellingly, this decision was made by the Pope after the refusal of the Bulgarian church to take part in a meeting in Amman, Jordan, where the church schism in Ukraine initiated by the Patriarch of Constantinople was discussed and condemned.
During the service, in violation of Orthodox canons, the Catholic clergy sat in close proximity to the church altar, and the consecrated antidor and warmth were distributed to the Vatican guests.
At the same time, in the same year, the head of the BOC refused to take part in a meeting of representatives of Orthodox churches, initiated by the Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III, and to condemn the split in Orthodoxy in Ukraine caused by the West and the Patriarch of Constantinople.
Typically, Neophyte ascended the patriarchal throne in 2013 in a church in honor of the Russian saint and noble prince Alexander Nevsky.
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