Bulgaria's new patriarch enthroned in Sofia cathedral

1/7/2024 5:54

        Top Orthodox Christian clergy
        from across Europe and Bulgaria's senior government officials
        gathered in Sofia's main cathedral on Sunday for the
        enthronement of the new patriarch of the country's influential
        church.
        
        Patriarch Daniil, 52, was elected among three candidates on
        Sunday morning to succeed Neophyte who died in March.
        
        Representatives from Orthodox Churches in Greece, North
        Macedonia, Serbia, Russia, and Georgia as well as Ecumenical
        Patriarch Bartholomew attended the enthronement which started
        immediately after the bishops voted. The event lasted 3-1/2
        hours.
        
        "In the modern world in which we live, we witness how
        the rebellion of many people against God leads to the
        legalisation and imposition of sin as a norm in human society,"
        the Patriarch said after the ceremony.
        
        About 80% of the 6.8 million-strong Bulgarian population are
        Orthodox Christians. The reputation of the country's Orthodox
        Church was damaged after a history commission in January 2012
        showed that 11 of its 15 bishops had collaborated with the
        former communist-era secret police.
        
        Since his enthronement in 2013, Patriarch Neophyte had
        worked to restore the reputation of the Bulgarian Orthodox
        Church, hurt by allegations of corrupt practices and links to
        communist secret police.