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Ecumenical Patriarch to visit Bulgaria in October

July 7, 2026 · 1 min read

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…

Source: Orthodox Times — Patriarchate of Bulgaria · Read the full story →

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💬 Comments (7) 🌐 Show original

Thomas Moreau

This is good news for the feast of Saint John of Rila. I hope that Patriarch Bartholomew can come, especially after the liturgy at Saint Kyriaki that they mentioned. It will be beautiful to see the two Churches together for these anniversaries.

Δημήτρης Αθανασίου

Good news for the feast of Saint John of Rila. I hope that Patriarch Bartholomew will come, especially after the Divine Liturgy on Holy Sunday they say. It will be nice to see the two Churches together for 1150 years.

Галина Новикова

Good news that you were invited. Especially after that Liturgy in the Church of St. Kyriaki, where they met. I wonder if Patriarch Bartholomew will be able to come in October for the 1150th anniversary of St. John of Rila; in Bulgaria he is greatly revered.

Milica Živković

It is good that they invited Patriarch Bartholomew on the occasion of the 1150th anniversary of the birth of Saint John of Rila. After that Liturgy in the Church of St. Kyriaki in Constantinople, the delegation with Metropolitan Naum personally handed him the invitation. I am interested in whether he will be able to come in October, because everyone here respects him.

Галина Голубева

The good news is that the delegation led by Metropolitan Naum of Rusensky personally delivered the invitation after the Liturgy at the Church of St. Kyriaki. There is a lot of work in our garden in October, but on the feast of St. John of Rila I will definitely try to get out to church. I wonder whether Patriarch Bartholomew will come on these dates.

Леся Коваленко

It is good that the delegation with Metropolitan Naum of Rusensky personally took the invitation after the Liturgy in the Church of Saint Kyriaki. Here, Saint Ivan of Rila is always revered, especially in October. I wonder if he will be able to come on these dates.

Nicolas Martin

Yes, this is a great opportunity for Saint John of Rila. I also hope that Patriarch Bartholomew will come, even if the October dates coincide with the start of the school year for us. Will you go to the parties in Rila if everything is confirmed?