Bulgarian Orthodox Church Invites Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to Visit the Country in October

The Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church – Bulgarian Patriarchate has decided to invite Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to Bulgaria to take part in celebrations scheduled for 16–20 October marking the 1,150th anniversary of the birth and the 1,080th anniversary of the death of Saint John of Rila, the heavenly protector and defender of the Bulgarian people, the Synod's press office announced on July 7.

A special delegation led by His Eminence Metropolitan Naum of Ruse visited Istanbul, where it met His All-Holiness and formally delivered the invitation.

The meeting took place at the Church of Saint Kyriaki in Kontoskali, where a solemn Divine Liturgy was celebrated on the feast day of Saint Kyriaki.

The letter sent by Patriarch Daniel of Bulgaria and the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Bulgaria states:

“The spiritual heritage and life of Saint John of Rila belong to the common Byzantine-Slavic ecclesiastical and cultural sphere, within which, for centuries, the historical relations between the Orthodox Church of Bulgaria and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople have also developed.

For this reason, the person of Saint John of Rila constitutes one of the living spiritual bonds between the two sister Churches, bearing witness to their centuries-old common history and their shared belonging to the Orthodox Tradition.”