Bulgarian Cleric Who Concelebrated with the OCU Hires Lawyers to Sue the Patriarch

Archimandrite Nikanor (Mishkov) of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, who received a temporary suspension from ministry for concelebrating with the OCU, has hired secular lawyers to sue Bulgarian Patriarch Daniel. The cleric is attempting to contest the Patriarch's decision and block a financial audit at his monastery.

The cleric filed a complaint drafted by Sofia lawyer Plamen Borisov in accordance with the rules of the secular Administrative Procedure Code. In the text of the complaint, he put forward various demands. In particular, to "ensure impartial consideration without the participation of His Holiness the Patriarch of Bulgaria and Metropolitan of Sofia Daniel in the preparation, chairmanship, discussion and voting on the complaint against his own act; for the remaining members to make an individual assessment for recusal."

In this way, the archimandrite attempted to derail the canonical process. Furthermore, he demanded that judicial precedents be provided to him and that an institution of secular mediation be introduced, despite the fact that the Church is not bound by secular judicial proceedings. "To provide anonymized case law for the past five years under Article 95, paragraph 19, where successive suspensions were imposed on a single cleric."

The reason for this legal attack was Archimandrite Nikanor's desire to avoid accountability for financial violations. The cleric had previously publicly admitted to collecting monastery funds without the necessary documentation.

"The proposal for brotherly reconciliation through mutual forgiveness and repentance, and the issuance of a letter dimissory, also remains in force," the archimandrite's representative proposed to the Synod.

The cleric had previously publicly insulted the Bulgarian Church on television. He called the Church a "satanic gathering," a "sect," and an "anti-church," and also distorted Orthodox dogmas.

As the UOJ reported, the Bulgarian Church suspended Archimandrite Nikanor from ministry for actions incompatible with the priestly rank and monastic vows of obedience, as well as for undermining the authority of the Church. The Sofia Diocesan Court is currently conducting proceedings against the cleric.

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