The message that the Bulgarian Orthodox Church gave to the entire Orthodox world with yesterday's election of a patriarch is that at the head of the church there is a conductor of Russian interests and of Russian ideology in Bulgaria.
This is what the journalist and historian Goran Blagoev told "Focus".
The role of the patriarch in today's Bulgarian modernity is quite exaggerated and overrated, he noted. "Declaring him the spiritual father of the Bulgarians is a bit pretentious. There are not only Orthodox in the Bulgarian nation," Blagoev pointed out.
However, the role of the patriarch is extremely important for the church and the election of a new patriarch should be considered in this context, the journalist explained. "It sets the agenda of church life and the perspective of church development. How much he will attract new true believers depends on his messages, which should not only be strictly ecclesiastical, but universal, for the whole society. If the patriarch has sent his adequate messages to the Bulgarian society, which are generally valid for the citizens of this society – welcome", said Goran Blagoev.
In his words, Patriarch Daniil is a convinced defender of the Russian cause. "The problem is not so much with the autonomy of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which is really a significant problem in the life of the Orthodox world, but that since the beginning of the war, Daniil has been sowing Russian supports for Russian aggression in Ukraine. A clergyman who should preach the peace of Christ and who does not distinguish between the victim and the aggressor and puts them under the common denominator is the big problem and the big worry about how worthy a clergyman Daniel is, not to mention a patriarch," Blagoev pointed out.
He noted that reactions on Russian sites after Daniil's election were "moderately enthusiastic to extremely exalted". "The reactions are that the Bulgarian Church almost certainly has "their man" at the head of the patriarchate. The Ukrainians, for their part, are not at all enthusiastic about this. Under Patriarch Neofit, there was hope that after all there would be no categorical opposition to the independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, but we will see Daniel's messages from here on. I personally hope that he refrains from issuing personal messages that are not in harmony with what a large part of Bulgarian society thinks and stands for", commented Goran Blagoev.
According to him, Daniil will not be a problematic figure in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. "Daniel is first among equals. In certain votes he is entitled to two votes, but if there is a majority in another direction, his vote shall not be decisive. From here on, Daniel's problems will not be few, because simple math shows that he still does not have a large majority in the Holy Synod. The majority is in the hands of the other circle – around Nicholas of Plovdiv. Whatever opinion he had as Metropolitan of Vidin, his opinion must now be taken into account with the position of the Holy Synod, and what will come out as a reaction of the church and about the war in Ukraine and regarding the Orthodox Church of Ukraine will be a decision of the entire Holy Synod", explained Goran Blagoev.