First Enthronement Anniversary of Patriarch Neophyte of Bulgaria

OCP News Service – 26/2/14

Read Letter of Congratulations from Metropolitan Hilaron of Moscow:

Sofia: The Bulgrians celebrated the first Enthronement Anniversary of Patriarch Neophyte on 24th February 2014. He was elected as the Patyriarch st the church council convened on 24 February 2013.

Born Simeon Dimitrov, the 67-year-old bishop enjoyed a close relationship with the late Patriarch Maxim, a hierarch who led the Bulgarian Church through the turbulent transitional years prior to and after the fall of Communism. A skilled church musician, Patriarch Neofit specialized in liturgical music at the Moscow Theological Academy, and later served as conductor of the Theological Academy Choir in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Tonsured in 1975, subsequently ordained and then consecrated to the episcopacy in 1985, the Patriarch held several key posts in the Bulgarian Church, including Rector of the Theological Academy, Dean of the Theological Faculty of Sofia University, Secretary of the Holy Synod, Metropolitan of Dorostolski Cherven and finally, Metropolitan of Ruse. He is generally acclaimed as an erudite man and one of the best diplomats of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

Source:
OCP News Service