site.btaBulgarian Patriarch Daniil Expresses Condolences on Death of Pope Francis to All of Roman Catholic Church

Bulgarian Patriarch and Metropolitan of Sofia Daniil expressed condolences on the passing of Pope Francis to the entire Roman Catholic Church on the air of Nova TV on Monday.

“We will all pray for a successful election of a successor to Pope Francis,” he added. Patriarch Daniil added that in recent months God performed a miracle, because despite the grave condition of Pope Francis, he has raised him to his feet.

“It was very significant in these last months of his life, when thousands of Christians from the Roman Catholic Church filled St. Peter's Square in Rome, praying around the clock, and God performed a miracle, raising him from a critical state he was in. We experienced something similar a year ago with our beloved predecessor, grandfather [the late Bulgarian Patriarch] Neophyte, when he also had difficult moments in late November and early December, and through the prayers of the entire church, the Lord raised him,” said Patriarch Daniil.

“We pray that there will be a successful election of a new successor who will try to overcome some of the difficulties that have been inherited in the history of the Roman Catholic Church, for the return of reconciliation with the Orthodox Church,” he also said.

“Let us remember that our life here, on Earth, is short, no one lives forever. The meaning of our life cannot be accomplished here, death interrupts life, the meaning of our life is in the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, let us live with repentance and hope for resurrection in the kingdom of Christ,” said Patriarch Daniil.

The death of Pope Francis was announced by the Vatican in a video message earlier on Monday. Eighty-eight-year-old Francis, whose birth name was Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was elected pope on March 13, 2013.