Representatives of Bulgarian Church serve with OCU "hierarchs" in Istanbul

Service in Istanbul with the participation of "hierarchs" of the OCU. Photo: ec-patr.org

On May 19, 2024, in the Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of the Lifegiving Spring, located in the Balıklı (Βαλουκλή in Greek) quarter of Istanbul, a liturgy took place, in which "hierarchs" of the OCU participated alongside hierarchs from the Phanar and the Bulgarian Church.

The liturgy was officiated by Patriarch Bartholomew. He was conclebrated by Metropolitan Makarios of Anea, Metropolitan Theodoritos of Laodicea, Metropolitan Apostolos of New Jersey, Metropolitan Nathanael of Chicago, Metropolitan Nicholas of Plovdiv (Bulgarian Church), Metropolitan Cyprian of Stara Zagora (Bulgarian Church), Metropolitan Jacob of Dorostol (Bulgarian Church), Bishop Zion of Velichka (Bulgarian Church), Bishop Vissarion of Smolyan (Bulgarian Church), as well as representatives of the OCU – Yevstratiy Zoria and Avraamiy Lotysh.

In his address after the liturgy, the head of the Phanar noted that "the assembly with fraternal hierarchs from two beloved daughters of the Church of Constantinople, namely from the autocephalous Churches of Bulgaria and Ukraine, is a sign of the eternal presence of the Lord among us."

"Your presence, venerable brothers, in the courtyards of the common Mother Church is a reason for consolation for us, because the labors of this Church, which has always been empty and devoid of all its resources for the well-being of its children, have not been in vain," said the patriarch.

He expressed confidence that "for you, the pilgrimage to the Reigning and Great Church is a spiritual return to the font that nourished and revived your peoples and became a decisive and beneficial turning point in their history and civilization."

Earlier, the UOJ reported that, according to Dumenko, no one was outraged by the presence of the OCU at the funeral of the Patriarch of the Bulgarian Church.

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