Bulgarian Church clergy and laity oppose Phanar head’s visit

The building of the Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in Sofia. Photo: bg-patriarshia

An open letter signed by more than 2,000 clergy, monastics, and laypeople was submitted to the office of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, urging it not to allow concelebration with Patriarch Bartholomew at Rila Monastery, the UOJ-Bulgaria reports.

The appeal, addressed to Bulgarian Patriarch Daniel and the metropolitans of the Holy Synod, was signed by more than 2,100 Orthodox Christians, including dozens of clergy and monastics.

The authors call on the hierarchs to stand firm and uphold the legacy of St. John of Rila in preserving the purity of the faith, arguing that concelebration with Patriarch Bartholomew would lead to the legitimization of schism and ecumenism.

The petition was supported by monastics from the Chekotin and Resilovo monasteries, as well as clergy from Sofia, Plovdiv, Dupnitsa, and Veliko Tarnovo. The signatories cited Apostolic Canon 45, which states: “Let a bishop, presbyter, or deacon who has merely prayed with heretics be excommunicated; but if he has permitted them to perform any clerical function, let him be deposed.”

“The dogmatic and canonical violations of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople are well known,” said Archimandrite Ioan (Filipov) of Plovdiv. “With all due respect for his rank, zealous Orthodox Christians among our Church people do not wish to pretend that everything is fine and hypocritically receive him as a ‘good shepherd.’ Instead, they want to express their disagreement with his anti-dogmatic and anti-canonical actions.”

“I profess the pure Orthodox faith,” said Priest Sergei Pavlov of Sofia. “I cannot imagine St. John of Rila participating in such a liturgy. He would certainly have signed this petition if he were in my place.”

The organizers of the appeal stressed that, now that the document has been submitted, responsibility for preserving the faith and deciding whether joint services are permissible rests entirely with the Holy Synod. The signatories said this responsibility concerns the salvation of millions of Orthodox Christians and the preservation of the Orthodox faith in Bulgaria.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Bulgarian faithful had spoken out against Patriarch Bartholomew's visit to the country, expressing concern that during a service at Rila Monastery the Ecumenical Patriarch might commemorate the head of the OCU, which he established and which many Bulgarian clergy consider a schismatic structure.

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