Ecumenical Patriarch to visit Bulgaria in October

At its regular session held on 26 June 2026 (Minutes No. 3 – full composition), the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Bulgaria decided to invite the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to Bulgaria to participate in the festive events that will take place from 16 to 20 October of this year, on the occasion of the 1150th anniversary of the birth and the 1080th anniversary of the repose of our Venerable Father Saint John of Rila the Wonderworker, the heavenly protector and defender of the Bulgarian people.

A special ecclesiastical delegation, headed by His Eminence Metropolitan Naum of Ruse and consisting of Bishop Gerasimos of Melnik, Secretary General of the Holy Synod, as well as Dr Alexander Smotchevski, visited Constantinople, Turkey, where it met with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and delivered the invitation, together with the greetings of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Bulgaria and the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

The meeting took place at the Church of Saint Kyriaki in Kontoskali, where a solemn Divine Liturgy was celebrated on the feast day of Saint Kyriaki.

Following the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew…