Bulgarians and the Orthodox world
bid a final farewell in Sofia yesterday to Patriarch of the
Bulgarian Orthodox Church and Metropolitan of Sofia Neofit, who
died on March 13 at the age of 78. On the second day of national
mourning proclaimed for today, an emotional crowd of hundreds
attended the funeral ceremony celebrated in the patriarchal
church dedicated to Saint Alexandar Nevski by the Metropolitan
of Varna, Yoan, who is also provisionally Metropolitan of Sofia
until a new patriarch is elected. Present were the high clergy
of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Ecumenical Patriarch of
Constantinople Bartholomew, delegations of Orthodox churches,
top Bulgarian authorities, diplomats. Russian Patriarch Kirill
was not invited for the occasion, and the Russian Orthodox
Church was represented by Metropolitan Nestor. The Ukrainian
Orthodox Church, which is not recognized by most autocephalous
Orthodox churches including the Bulgarian one, was represented
by Metropolitan Epifanij. "Patriarch Neofit was for all of us an
example of humility and purity, of charity and selfless love of
neighbor, of patience and wisdom," Metropolitan Yoan said at the
end of the funeral mass. After the funeral services, the coffin
with the mortal remains of the Bulgarian patriarch, followed by
thousands of people, was transported for burial to St. Sophia
Church in the Bulgarian capital where Neofit was a priest as a
young man.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
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