Bulgaria’s new patriarch enthroned in Sofia cathedral

Top Orthodox Christian clergy
from across Europe and Bulgaria’s senior government officials
gathered in Sofia’s main cathedral on Sunday for the
enthronement of the new patriarch of the country’s influential
church.
Patriarch Daniil, 52, was elected among three candidates on
Sunday morning to succeed Neophyte who died in March.
Representatives from Orthodox Churches in Greece, North
Macedonia, Serbia, Russia, and Georgia as well as Ecumenical
Patriarch Bartholomew attended the enthronement which started
immediately after the bishops voted. The event lasted 3-1/2
hours.
“In the modern world in which we live, we witness how
the rebellion of many people against God leads to the
legalisation and imposition of sin as a norm in human society,”
the Patriarch said after the ceremony.
About 80% of the 6.8 million-strong Bulgarian population are
Orthodox Christians. The reputation of the country’s Orthodox
Church was damaged after a history commission in January 2012
showed that 11 of its 15 bishops had collaborated with the
former communist-era secret police.
Since his enthronement in 2013, Patriarch Neophyte had
worked to restore the reputation of the Bulgarian Orthodox
Church, hurt by allegations of corrupt practices and links to
communist secret police.