Bulgarian hierarch leaves Council at Phanar due to presence of non-Orthodox

Bishop Isaac of Velbuzhd. Photo: Raskolam.net

Bishop Isaac of Velbuzhd, vicar of the Sofia Metropolis of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, left the patriarchal Cathedral of Saint George at the Phanar during the Paschal service.

UOJ in the USA reports that the hierarch made this decision after discovering that representatives of the Roman Catholic, Armenian, and Syriac-Jacobite churches had been invited to read the Gospel at the Resurrection service.

Instead of participating in the ecumenical event, Bishop Isaac returned to the Bulgarian Exarchate representation in the Şişli district, where he read the Paschal message of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Church to the faithful. The bishop arrived in Istanbul at the invitation of the local Bulgarian community to conduct Holy Week services.

The conflict escalated on Holy Thursday when the deacon accompanying the bishop commemorated both Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Bulgarian Patriarch Daniel during the Liturgy.

Representatives of the Phanar called this a "jurisdictional violation," claiming that the Bulgarian community of Istanbul is under their exclusive authority. The incident occurred several months before Patriarch Daniel's planned visit to Imbros Island.

Earlier, UOJ reported that the Synod of the Bulgarian Church declined the trip for the Holy Fire.

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