ISTANBUL (RNS) — Neophyte I, patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, has died at the age of 78 after a long illness, the church announced Wednesday (March 13). According to the statement, his cause of death was multiple organ failure.
Neophyte, born Simeon Nikolov Dimitrov in Sofia, Bulgaria, was the third patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church since the patriarchate was restored in 1953 nearly 600 years after it was dismantled following Bulgaria’s conquest by the Ottoman Empire and schism with the ecumenical patriarch in Constantinople. Enthroned as patriarch in 2013, he was the church’s first leader to reign entirely after the shadow of communist rule.
During his decade of leadership, Neophyte was seen as a soft-spoken theologian who worked to bridge gaps between his faith and others in the often fractured Balkans.
He publicly welcomed Pope Francis when the pontiff visited his country in 2019, even while others in the Bulgarian Church viewed the visit as “an attack on Orthodoxy.”
“We keep the memory of the sincere brotherly Christian love of His Holiness Patriarch Neophyte, repeatedly expressed to the representatives of the Catholic Church and to the Bulgarian Catholic community,” the Bulgarian Catholic church said in a statement.
Patriarch Neophyte after his inauguration in 2013. (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia/Creative Commons)
“The death of the Primate of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is a huge loss for it and for the Bulgarian people,” Bulgaria’s president, Rumen Radev, said in a Facebook post. “With his dedicated spiritual service to G …
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Neophyte, born Simeon Nikolov Dimitrov in Sofia, Bulgaria, was the third patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church since the patriarchate was restored in 1953 nearly 600 years after it was dismantled following Bulgaria’s conquest by the Ottoman Empire and schism with the ecumenical patriarch in Constantinople. Enthroned as patriarch in 2013, he was the church’s first leader to reign entirely after the shadow of communist rule.
During his decade of leadership, Neophyte was seen as a soft-spoken theologian who worked to bridge gaps between his faith and others in the often fractured Balkans.
He publicly welcomed Pope Francis when the pontiff visited his country in 2019, even while others in the Bulgarian Church viewed the visit as “an attack on Orthodoxy.”
“We keep the memory of the sincere brotherly Christian love of His Holiness Patriarch Neophyte, repeatedly expressed to the representatives of the Catholic Church and to the Bulgarian Catholic community,” the Bulgarian Catholic church said in a statement.
Patriarch Neophyte after his inauguration in 2013. (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia/Creative Commons)
“The death of the Primate of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is a huge loss for it and for the Bulgarian people,” Bulgaria’s president, Rumen Radev, said in a Facebook post. “With his dedicated spiritual service to G …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]