Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will visit Bulgaria on the feast of Saint John of Rilatranslated

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I will visit Bulgaria on October 19, on the occasion of the feast of St. Pious John of Rila.

The announcement was made on Friday, during the service of the Chapel of the Mother of God, held in the "Saint John of Rila" Church of the Bulgarian community in Istanbul (Constantinople).

The visit will take place at the invitation of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and will include the participation of the Ecumenical Patriarch in the festive events organized at the Rila Monastery, as well as in Sofia. They will mark the completion of 1,150 years since the birth and 1,080 years since the transfer to the Lord of the protector of the Bulgarian people.

"We wish, therefore, that our presence here today constitutes the preliminary announcement of what is to take place in October in Bulgaria, as an additional proof of the love of the Holy Church of Christ towards this pious man, who, although he lived in poverty and humble retreat on the Rila mountain, became a source of sanctification not only for the Bulgarian people, but for the entire Orthodoxy", said His Holiness.

Patriarch Bartholomew I highlighted the connection between Constantinople and the Church of Bulgaria, emphasizing the role it had...