Pope Francis receives the Bulgarian delegation led by Prime Minister Petkov

Pope Francis received the Bulgarian delegation led by Prime Minister Kiril Petkov at the Vatican on May 23. It includes Deputy Prime Minister Assen Vassilev, Foreign and Education Ministers Teodora Genchovska and Nikolay Denkov.

The delegation is on a two-day visit to Vatican City and Rome on the occasion of May 24, Day of the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius, of the Bulgarian Alphabet, Education and Culture and of Slavic Literature.

Pope Francis' main recommendation to Bulgaria is that the young people who are currently governing us should continue on the path they have taken, especially in the direction of fighting corruption.

“Corruption is a disease,” the Pope told the Bulgarian PM and added that he believes sincerely that young politicians are the only way to eradicate it.

“The Pope said that corruption is widespread, Bulgaria included, and congratulated the Bulgarian government that its main goal is to eradicate this disease, Petkov told journalists.

Pope Francis has called on our government, at a time of unprecedented world crisis and increasing inflation, to have dialogue with the people not only through the media but in close contacts and meetings, so that it can be made clear that there are many things that are not just a function of government.

"Another thing he clearly advised me is that if we are fighting both the most corrupt in Bulgaria and the enemy forces from other countries, both battles are very difficult to fight at the same time. That is why His Holiness advised me to fight in steps and not simultaneously in all directions," said Kiril Petkov.

The topic of the Republic of North Macedonia was not part of the conversation with the Holy Father.

The gift for the audience with the Pope from the Bulgarian delegation was a Nativity scene model made of wool. The model was made by children from the Nativity Social Centre.

Earlier today the Bulgarian delegation venerated the relics of St. Cyril's relics in the San Clemente Basilica, and Western and Central European Metropolitan Anthony served a Divine Liturgy

In the afternoon, PM Kirill Petkov met with his Italian counterpart Mario Draghi.

"We also talked about Gazprom. We made sure that each country cannot deal on its own, we have to have a common position between the member states because there is a possibility that Russia and Gazprom may give different conditions to different countries, which may imply that some countries can pay, others cannot."

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