Bulgarian Patriarch Neophyte Buried in Sofia’s St. Nedelya Church

Metodi Yordanov

BTA Photo

Sofia,

16.03.2024 15:09

(BTA)

Bulgarian Patriarch and Sofia Metropolitan Neophyte, who passed away after a long illness late on Wednesday, was buried in Sofia’s St. Nedelya Church on Saturday - the second day of national mourning on which Bulgarians paid their respects.

Neophyte’s coffin was brought to the church in a gun carriage with a funeral procession from the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, where Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew headed the memorial litia service for the repose of Patriarch Neophyte's soul, in co-celebration with the representatives of the local Orthodox Churches and the hierarchs of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

The funeral service was preceded by a hierarchical divine liturgy, led by Ioan, Metropolitan of Varna, currently serving as Locum Tenens head of the Holy Synod.

Senior officials, politicians and statesmen paid tribute to the late Bulgarian Patriarch, whose remains were laid by the tomb of Exarch Joseph in St. Nedelya Church.

/MY/