“During the past year our life was marked by the tragedy of a fratricidal war which broke out in the very heart of Christian Europe, in brotherly, Orthodox Ukraine. A conflict in which brothers in faith and in kin faced one another, a conflict which will have its affects and consequences for decades to come, planting the seed of enmity for the future generations.” 

With these words Bulgarian Patriarch Neophyte addressed all Christians on the first day of the new year. He expressed the hope that a year of good will is beginning, a year of restoring peace all over the world. Patriarch Neophyte quoted Jesus’ words that “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.” (Matthew 12:25). “May humility, prayer and our thankfulness to the Lord be our constant companions during the new year,” the Bulgarian Patriarch points out.