Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv: “Patriarch Neophyte condemned Russian aggression, we hope you do the same”
His Beatitude Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine sent a congratulatory message to His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Bulgaria on his election and enthronement. On behalf of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, he expressed joy at the appointment, acknowledging it as a call from our Lord Jesus Christ to lead the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
He wished the new Patriarch health and fruitful service for the benefit of the Church and the Bulgarian people. The message highlighted the historical and spiritual ties between the Bulgarian and Ukrainian Churches, both stemming from the Great Church of Christ in Constantinople.
The Metropolitan also remembered the late Patriarch Neophyte’s condemnation of Russian aggression against Ukraine and hoped that Patriarch Daniel would continue to speak against these injustices. He concluded with prayers for Patriarch Daniel and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, seeking reciprocal prayers for the Ukrainian Church and people.
Read the full message:
His Beatitude Daniel,
Patriarch of Bulgaria, Metropolitan of Sofia,Primate
of the Bulgarian Orthodox ChurchYour Beatitude!
On behalf of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and on my own behalf, I congratulate you on the election and enthronement as the Bulgarian Patriarch.The Head of the Church, our Lord Jesus Christ, by His ineffable Providence, through a conciliar choice, called you to the high and responsible ministry of the Primate of the ancient and glorified by many ascetics and saints, local Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Congratulating Your Beatitude on the occasion of your ascension to the Patriarchal Throne, I prayerfully wish you good health, blessed years of fruitful service for the benefit of the Church, the pious Bulgarian people and all Orthodoxy.
Our two Churches are the daughters of the Great Church of Christ in Constantinople, from which the Bulgarian Holy Tsar Boris and the Kyiv Holy Grand Duke Volodymyr were baptised for their peoples, including them in a single European civilizational space. Both Bulgaria and Ukraine have paid a high price for preserving and protecting this Christian and European choice and its unique place in history.
Since the beginning of the spread of the Gospel of Christ in our lands, there have been deep spiritual and cultural ties between the Churches of Bulgaria and Ukraine. We remember with gratitude the late Patriarch Neophyte, who condemned the Russian aggression against Ukraine and showed compassion for the Ukrainian people who suffered from the genocidal war. We hope that Your Beatitude will continue to raise the voice of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church against Russian crimes – in the name of the victory of truth and a just peace for Ukraine, Europe and the world.
We pray for you and for the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and ask for your prayers for our Local Church and Ukraine.
With love in Christ,
EPIFANIY,
Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine,
Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine
Source: orthodoxtimes.com
