site.btaTheology Professor Ivan Zhelev Says Election of Patriarch Daniil was Highlight of Bulgarian Orthodox Church Year

The election and enthronement of the new Bulgarian Patriarch Daniil on June 30 was the highlight of the year for the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, theologian Prof. Ivan Zhelev told BTA. He was asked to catalogue the most important events for the church over 2024. Zhelev formerly headed the government’s Directorate of Religious Affairs. "The change of the head of such an important institution [as the Church] is undoubtedly of crucial importance for its life and activity, for its future," said Zhelev.

He noted that at the end of each year we take stock of what we have done or what has happened in the past 12 months. It is natural that this should also apply to the life and activity of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate. "Not only because it is, in fact, the largest public organization in Bulgaria, but because a sideways glance from the distance of a whole year is always useful for our plans and aspirations for the next 'year of the Lord's grace', as the prayer for the new year says," he explained.

The late Patriarch Neophyte's frail health and long absence from Church life actually made his death something expected. But it did unleash processes at the top of the Church whose outcome was difficult to predict, the theologian noted. He explained how, in fact, the Statutes of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church had foiled the ambitions of a senior cleric to pull the strings in the affairs of the Church behind the scene and in the end the council came up with the surprising election of the Metropolitan of Vidin Daniil as patriarch against the nomination of his peer Gabriel of Vratsa.

The faithful accepted this election as a "sign from heaven", an expression of God's will, a true miracle, said Zhelev. "In recent years there was a systematic campaign against Daniil of Vidin, who took unpopular, albeit principled, positions. And everybody was sure that he was proposed in the initial 'troika' as a fill-in, because he was seen as having no chance of being elected. But it was him who became Bulgarian Patriarch and Metropolitan of Sofia," the theologian noted.

Asked why the election of patriarch is considered the most important event in 2024, Zhelev said it was because believers, "ordinary people", as they are frequently called, unlike the clerics and those familiar with the affairs of the church, wanted "precisely this kind of a patriarch: one who would be a cleric and not a 'salon bishop', who would work for the Orthodox faith and for the Church as a whole and not for his own luxury and image, who would lay down his soul for the people and not look at the people as a source of gain and wealth". According to him, Patriarch Daniil has the qualities of a follower of Christ and a true shepherd. "That is why his election is so important for the present and future of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church," said Prof. Zhelev.

The importance of the patriarchal election was underlined by the presence of representatives of almost all Orthodox churches at the enthronement of His Holiness Daniel. In other words, this solemn act produced a small pan-Orthodox council at the highest level, which in itself is a very positive fact in today's time of division and confrontation at all levels - political, military, economic, religious, he said.

Speaking of the difficult election of a new Metropolitan of Sliven, Prof. Zhelev said it was a routine process that gained unjustifiably great importance in the life of the Church life. "Many interests intervened there, probably because of the significant properties of the diocese. Thus, worthy people became tainted, others were disgusted by the behavior of some clerics, and there were controversial decisions of the Synod. That is why the bishop's election in Sliven, unfortunately, gained importance with a negative connotation," Zhelev said.

The centenary of the consecration of the St. Alexander Nevsky patriarchal Cathedral, which was celebrated solemnly on the feast day of the saint, November 23, again gathered representatives of all Orthodox churches around the world. The solemn liturgy and other festive events testified, in Prof. Zhelev's opinion, to "the desire, even the thirst, to be all in unity". On such occasions Christians always quote the words of Psalm 133: "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!", said Prof. Ivan Zhelev.

He noted that within a few months of taking office, Patriarch Daniil had again been honoured by the other Orthodox Churches, including general and bilateral meetings and talks. This was not only a wonderful start for him in the high post, but also an enhancement of the authority of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in world Orthodoxy.

On the threshold of 2025, Bulgarians are naturally also looking at the expected events in 2025. The program for some important events has not been announced yet, but we can expect the celebration of the 1160th anniversary of the conversion of the Bulgarian people during the reign of St. Prince Boris-Mikhail, or the 1140th anniversary of the passing of the Slavic enlightener Methodius, or on the 790th anniversary of the proclamation of the Bulgarian Patriarchate at the Orthodox Council in Lampsacus, or on the 80th anniversary of the lifting of the "grievous schism", as the late Bulgarian Patriarch Cyril called it, said Prof. Zhelev.