"Bulgarian Patriarch Daniil legitimized the Serbian myth of the "Suduli martyrs" by demonstrating contempt for the sacrifices made by our people in their struggles for national liberation and unification".
This is stated in the position of the Atlantic Council of Bulgaria on the occasion of the meeting of Patriarch Daniil with two senior representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church, reported BGNES.
On October 30, 2024, in the Metropolitan Cathedral “St. Sunday“ the patriarch celebrated a liturgy to commemorate the memory of St. King Stefan Milutin in collaboration with two senior representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church - Metropolitan Hilarion of Timoch and Metropolitan Arsenij of Niš.
The Atlantic Council recalls with alarm that in 2017 the Serbian Synod glorified the so-called "Surdulish Martyrs" – a historical myth based on civilian casualties in the suppression of the Toplish Uprising in 1917.
"This action, without precedent in the Orthodox world, aimed to exacerbate the anti-Bulgarian hysteria in our western neighbor, to put the representatives of the Bulgarian minority in an awkward position, and through the school and the church to influence the children, who are particularly sensitive , thereby facilitating the assimilation of the Bulgarian national minority in Serbia. In recent years, Serbian propaganda has exposed the myth of the "Surdulija martyrs" and at the international level in an attempt to compensate for the image damage to Serbia from the international recognition of the real genocide committed in Srebrenica", the position also says.
St. In 2017, the Synod of the BOC protested in writing to the Serbian Orthodox Church and decided that Bulgarian bishops should not concelebrate with Serbian ones:
"This prohibition was strictly observed in the canonical territory of the BOC until October 30, 2024 and the above-mentioned concurrence of Patriarch Daniil. By violating this decision of St. Synod, the Bulgarian Patriarch Daniil showed contempt for the similar sacrifices made by our people in their struggles for national liberation and unification! His unconstitutional cooperation with the Serbian bishops in the church of “St. Sunday“ is a step towards legitimizing the myth of the "surduly martyrs" and in essence is a betrayal of Bulgarian national interests", declared the Atlantic Council of Bulgaria. He calls on the Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria and his wards, the “Religions” – MC to request an explanation from the Bulgarian Patriarch Daniil regarding the case. An appeal was made to the Holy Synod of the BOC to take a stance and publicly state its position on the so-called "Surdulish martyrs". | BGNES