Patriarchs Daniil and Bartholomew lead liturgy at St. George Church in Istanbul

Bulgarian Patriarch and Metropolitan of Sofia Daniil and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew concelebrated a solemn Divine Liturgy at the Church of St. George the Great Martyr in the Istanbul district of Phanar.

This marked the second day of the first peace visit of Bulgarian Patriarch Daniil to the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul.

New Bulgarian patriarch pays first visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate

Patriarch Daniil arrives in Istanbul for meeting with the Ecumenical Patriarch

At the end of today’s conciliar Divine Liturgy, Bulgarian Patriarch Daniil and the Holy Synod presented Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew with a relic of Saint Patriarch Euthymius, Bulgarian National Television (BNT) reported. Euthymius of Tarnovo was a Bulgarian patriarch (1375–1393) and a writer who laid the foundations of the Tarnovo Literary School.

“In times such as the present, when lawlessness is multiplying beyond recognition, when once again ‘the nations rage, and the peoples plot vain things’ (Ps. 2:1) against the will of God, when we see how human life and the dignity of the human person are increasingly devalued and our entire world is shaken by the destructive forces of darkness, the Orthodox Church is obliged to raise its voice ever higher in a common witness to the light and peace that Christ brought us through His birth,” said Patriarch Daniil.

Patriarch Daniil’s visit will continue until December 28. On December 27, a Divine Liturgy led by the Bulgarian Patriarch will be held at the Bulgarian Church of St. Stephen in Istanbul.

Edited by Miglena Ivanova
English version: R. Petkova