site.btaPresident Plevneliev: "As a Christian I hope that the Holy Synod will reconsider its decision which may cause Bulgarian Christians to divide into monarchists and republicans"

President Plevneliev: "I hope that the Holy Synod will reconsider its decision which may cause Bulgarian Christians to divide into monarchists and republicans"

Pliska, Northern Bulgaria, May 2 (BTA) - A liturgy dedicated to
the 1150th anniversary of Bulgaria's Christianization was served
 on Saturday at the basilica in Pliska by Patriarch Neophyte,
the metropolitans of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and visiting
Orthodox leaders. A message by the Patriarch and the Holy Synod
was read at the liturgy commemorating the anniversary and Saint
Tsar Boris I of Bulgaria.
   
The church commemorates Tsar Boris I Baptizer of Bulgaria and
the establishment of an autonomous Bulgarian church. Boris I was
 the Bulgarian ruler who Christianized the country and
introduced the Cyrillic alphabet, reigning between 852 and 889
and again in 893 for a short time.

Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, former prime minister Simeon
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Emil Velinov, head of the Directorate for
Religious Denominations under the Council of Ministers, received
 orders at the end of the liturgy.

King Simeon II, already a recipient of the order, was conferred
the Order of Saint John of Rila, the first order of the
Bulgarian Patriarchy, established in 1961.

President Rosen Plevneliev attended the celebrations.

Taking a journalist question Plevneliev said: "Today we
celebrate the holy deeds of King Boris I of Bulgaria, who
consolidated the Bulgarians into a nation. On this day we should
 remember his legacy and Bulgaria's political and spiritual
leaders should follow his lead in forging unity and solid
foundations so that the Bulgaria nation lasts for centuries."

"As head of State I firmly stand by the Constitutional rules. As
 a humble layman and Christian I hope and pray that the Holy
Synod will reconsider its decision which has a symbolic meaning
and may cause Bulgarian Christians to divide into monarchists
and republicans," added Plevneliev, referring to a decision by
the Holy Synod to enthrone Simeon as king of Bulgaria in church
services.

Plevneliev voiced a hope that the Holy Synod will make a wise
decision. "I have enormous respect for the Bulgarian Orthodox
Church and as head of State I will always work for its unity,"
he added.
   
On Friday the Bulgarian Patriarchate announced that Simeon
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha will be referred to as king of Bulgaria in all
 public and private services held in the diocese of the
Bulgarian Orthodox Church.The proposal was put forward by
Metropolitan Nikolai of  Plovdiv and was voted unanimously by
the Holy Synod.

Simeon was born the son of Boris III and Giovanna of Italy. He
became tsar on 28 August 1943 on the death of his father but
since he was only six years old when he ascended the throne, a
council of regents was appointed. His family was forced to flee
the country by the communist government on September 16 and he
returned to Bulgaria on May 25 1996.

Between July 24 2001 and August 17 2005 Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
 served as the 48th Bulgarian prime minister. After winning the
elections he went on the head the National Movement Simeon II.