site.btaMetropolitan Anthony, Ambassador Ivan Yordanov Confer with Bishop Gregorios in Abu Dhabi

The Metropolitan of Western and Central Europe Anthony and Bulgaria’s Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Ivan Yordanov, met with the Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, Auxiliary Bishop of Emirates - Assistant Bishop to the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East John X, the Right Reverend Bishop Gregorios (Khoury Abdullah), the Foreign Ministry said on its website Thursday

During the meeting, Metropolitan Anthony and Bishop Gregorios discussed furthering the relations between the patriarchates of Bulgaria and Antioch, focusing on matters related to the Bulgarian Orthodox community in the diocese of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), including the celebration of the Divine liturgy in Bulgarian.

As recent years have seen the largest Bulgarian community in the Arab world gather in the UAE, says a publication in the website bg-patriarshia.bg, the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church has entrusted Metropolitan Anthony of Western and Central Europe to organize the establishment of a Bulgarian church community there. The idea is to build a Bulgarian church in the region of Jebel Ali, Emirate of Dubai, where most of the Bulgarians are concentrated. Now they have to travel to the Orthodox church in the Emirate of Sharjah to meet their spiritual needs, the publication adds.