site.btaPM Zhelyazkov Arrives in Rome

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov arrived on a visit to Rome and the Vatican on the eve of the Day of Slav Letters, May 24. He is heading an official delegation that will be paying tribute to sites connected with the work of the Sts. Cyril and Methodius on Thursday and Friday. 

Later in the day the Prime Minister will confer with Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. He will also lay wreaths at the monuments of Captain Petko Voyvoda and Ivan Vazov, as well as at the monument of Saints Cyril and Methodius in the yard of the Bulgarian Embassy, where an official reception will be held to mark May 24.

On May 23, the Bulgarian Prime Minister will be received by Pope Leo XIV at the Apostolic Palace. Later, he will meet with the Vatican's Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin. 

Zhelyazkov will attend a solemn liturgy at the Basilica of Saint Clement and will honour the relics and the tomb of St Constantine-Cyril the Philosopher. The service will be presided over by Metropolitan Anthony of Western and Central Europe, together with priests from the Western and Central European Diocese of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church – Bulgarian Patriarchate.

The Prime Minister will visit the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, where he will lay a wreath at the memorial plaque of the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius.

Zhelyazkov will also meet the Grand Chancellor of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Riccardo Paterno di Montecupo.