As successors of our ancestors, we are obliged today to do everything possible to preserve what unites us - this peace that the Lord gives us, and to which he has called us to strive to preserve. This was stated to the media by the Bulgarian Patriarch and Metropolitan of Sofia Daniel, who today took part in prayer in the Holy Liturgy in the Church of Saint Stephen - San Stefano, in the Istanbul neighborhood of Yesilkoy, quoted by BTA. The liturgy was led by the spiritual leader of the Bulgarian Orthodox community in Istanbul - Archimandrite Haralampi Nichev.
„The message that we received during the visit and which we will take back to our homeland and convey to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is that our hearts were filled with peace", said Patriarch Daniil.
„Glory and thanks to God for this fraternal communication and for the opportunity to carry out this peaceful visit", he added.
In the words of the Bulgarian Patriarch „the greatest joy is that the visit is peaceful and we feel and see this peace within us".
Patriarch Daniil pointed out that Istanbul „is rich in history, both for the ancient Byzantine Empire and and for our Bulgarian state".
In summary, he said that “we remember various difficulties in bilateral relations with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Bulgarian Exarchate, but we are glad that today all this has been overcome and the message is that we must really strive, as our faith teaches us, to strive to preserve this fraternal communion and the unity of faith that the Lord has commanded us. This is the main message. Everything starts from here. Yes, there are certain disagreements, there are different opinions on various church issues, but in dialogue, without interrupting fraternal communication, we believe that everything is surmountable and God will help with this".