site.btaUPDATED President on Patriarch's Passing: Huge Loss for Church and Bulgarian People

The death of the Head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is a huge loss for the Church and the Bulgarian people, President Rumen Radev said in a post on Facebook shortly after the Patriarchate announced the death of Patriarch Neophyte.

He was 78. He died in hospital of multiorgan failure after a long illness. 

"I bow my head with deep sorrow in memory of His Holiness Neophyte, Patriarch of Bulgaria and Metropolitan of Sofia," the President wrote. 

"With his dedicated spiritual service to God and Orthodoxy, Patriarch Neophyte established himself as a pillar of the Bulgarian nation and our State. May God forgive him and rest his soul! Eternal and blessed be his memory," the post goes. 

Vice President Iliana Iotova wrote on Facebook: "May there be light on the path of the soul of the Bulgarian Patriarch! I will never forget those warm eyes and his wise words!"