Funeral service for late Bulgarian Patriarch Neophyte to be held on Saturday, lying-in-state begins on Friday

The laying in state of the Bulgarian Patriarch Neophyte will begin tomorrow, on 15 March at 9.00 am at the Patriarchal Cathedral "St. Alexander Nevski”.

The Bulgarian Patriarch Neophyte passed away

The funeral service for the late Patriarch will be on Saturday, March 16. At 9.30 a.m., a funeral mass will be held in “St. Alexander Nevski" cathedral, after which his body will be taken in procession to the "St. Nedelya" church. He will be laid to rest there, Metropolitan Kyprian said after the extraordinary meeting of the Holy Synod on March 14.

The Patriarch’s wish and the decision of the Holy Synod was to be buried in the courtyard of “St. Nedelya" church, Metropolitan Kyprian stressed.

Metropolitan Ioan of Varna and Veliki Preslav, who was elected the interim head of the Holy Synod, will oversee the organisation of the election of a new Patriarch within the next four months.

Today, the body of Patriarch Neophyte of Bulgaria will be laid in state in the Church of St. Marina in Sofia, Metropolitan Ioan announced.