Bulgarian Locum Tenens Kirill Takes Over Diocese of Sofia

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Metropolitan Kirill Kovachev of Varna and Veliki Preslav will serve as the interim Metropolitan of Sofia, in addition to being locum tenens of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. On Saturday, the Holy Synod elected Kirill locum tenens at a special session. The other candidate for the position, vacant after the recent death of Patriarch Maksim Minkov, was Metropolitan Ioanniky Nedelchev of Sliven. Kirill will lead the Bulgarian Orthodox Church for four months; he will prepare the way for a Local Church Council to elect a new Patriarch.

Patriarch Maksim, who led the Church since 1971, died Tuesday aged 98; his burial in Troyan was on Friday. After Maksim’s death, the Synod initially gave the position of the Metropolitan of Sofia… a position held by the Patriarch… to Metropolitan Nikolai Sevastiyanov of Plovdiv. During 2011 and early 2012, Metropolitan Kirill caused controversy after being spotted in an expensive Lincoln MKZ Hybrid. This incident renewed debate about the sources of wealth among senior Bulgarian clergy. As far as Metropolitan Nikolai is concerned, Bulgaria’s youngest ruling hierarch, he’s known for his hardline religious stance.

10 October 2012

Novinite.com

Sofia News Agency

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=145008

 

Bulgarian Patriarch Maksim Buried in Home Monastery

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Bulgaria‘s late Orthodox Patriarch Maksim Minkov was buried Friday at Troyan Monastery in central northern Bulgaria, per his will. Patriarch Maksim passed away at the age of 98 on Tuesday. Maksim was born Marin Minkov in the village of Oreshak village near Troyan in 1914, and began his monastic life at in the local monastery, one of the largest and most renowned in Bulgaria. The funeral service and liturgy for the deceased patriarch were held Friday at 09.00 local time at St Aleksandr Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia, where Maxim’s body was laid in state before being interred in Troyan. Patriarch Maksim was in charge of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church for 41 years. Bulgaria’s higher clergy will elect a new Patriarch within the next four months. Bulgaria’s government declared Friday a day of national mourning due to the Patriarch’s death.

9 November 2012

Novinite.com

Sofia News Agency

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=144997