Bulgarian сlergy abroad condemn words of cleric who served with OCU

Bulgarian Orthodox Cathedral of Saints Cyril and Methodius in New York. Photo: Wikipedia

The clergy and laypeople of the Bulgarian Diocese in the USA, Canada, and Australia have condemned public attacks on Patriarch Daniel by Archimandrite Nikanor (Mishkov), who previously concelebrated with the OCU. The official statement was published by priests and faithful of the overseas diocese on August 5, 2026, in response to the slander directed at the Primate.

The authors of the statement stressed that they know Patriarch Daniel personally from his seven years of service as a vicar bishop in America.

“We know him as a man of sincere prayer, humility, meekness and unconditional fidelity to the Holy Orthodox Church,” the clergy and laity testified. “He always placed the spiritual benefit of the flock entrusted to him above personal interests, knew how to reconcile and encourage people, and bore the burden of his archpastoral ministry with dignity.”

They said with deep sorrow that Archimandrite Nikanor’s systematic statements had gone far beyond the bounds of permissible church criticism and had become deliberate in nature. According to them, the cleric’s publications contain insults, mockery and open disrespect toward the Primate. Such conduct, they said, undermines trust in the Church hierarchy, fuels divisions and seriously damages the authority of the Bulgarian Church as a whole.

“We call on Archimandrite Nikanor to cease the language of insult and public confrontation,” the statement said. “He must recognize the grave consequences of his words and actions and seek the path of repentance, ecclesiastical obedience and reconciliation.”

The clergy stressed that freedom of opinion cannot serve as justification for insulting the Primate or deliberately sowing hostility among the faithful. The authors of the appeal also expressed their conviction that such public actions by a cleric require a clear canonical assessment by the competent church authorities.

As the UOJ reported, the Bulgarian Church suspended from ministry the archimandrite who had concelebrated with the OCU, for actions incompatible with the priestly rank and monastic vows of obedience, and for undermining the authority of the Church.

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