Serious tension has arisen among Orthodox Christians and the clergy in our country due to the planned visit of the Istanbul (Ecumenical) Patriarch Bartholomew to Bulgaria. The occasion for the visit is the celebration of the 1150th anniversary of the birth and 1080th anniversary of the ascension of Saint John of Rila the Wonderworker. However, Patriarch Bartholomew's intention to lead the solemn Divine Liturgy in the Rila Monastery on October 19 met with categorical resistance.
The dissatisfied laypeople, priests and monks expressed their motives in an open letter addressed to the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (BOC). In it, they insist that the Bulgarian hierarchs immediately cancel the invitation to the hierarch from Fener. According to the authors of the letter, the presence of the Ecumenical Patriarch would desecrate the memory of the greatest Bulgarian saint. Believers define him as an ecumenist with unfounded claims to the status of “Eastern Pope“.
The main fear of the Orthodox community in our country is that during the service in the Rila Holy Monastery, Patriarch Bartholomew will mention the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) he created. This structure is considered by many clergymen as a schismatic formation and is currently not officially recognized by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Priests warn that in this way our native church could be faced with a fait accompli on the delicate Ukrainian church issue.
A large-scale online petition has already been launched on the Internet, in which hundreds of Bulgarians declare their position against the visit. The motives of the dissatisfied and the full text of the appeal are available HERE.
The believers' insistence is that the Bulgarian Orthodox Church protect its autonomy and dignity by not allowing the introduction of foreign geopolitical and church lines into the heart of Bulgarian spirituality.