site.btaBulgarian Patriarch Daniil to Pay First Peaceful Visit to Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul

At the invitation of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and by decision of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (BOC), the Bulgarian Patriarch and Metropolitan of Sofia, Daniil, will undertake his first peaceful visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul, the BOC said in a press release on Tuesday. The visit of the Bulgarian Patriarch will begin on December 25, the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and will end on December 28. 

On December 25, Patriarch Daniil and his accompanying delegation will be welcomed at the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and a thanksgiving prayer service (Doxology) will be held at the Patriarchal Cathedral Church of St. George the Great Martyr in Istanbul's Phanar Quarter. Following this, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the members of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate will officially receive the Primate of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and his delegation. 

On December 26, the Feast of the Synaxis of the Most Holy Theotokos, Patriarch Daniil will concelebrate a festal liturgy with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at the Church of St. George the Victorious. 

On the penultimate day of his peaceful visit, Patriarch Daniil will preside over a divine liturgy at the Bulgarian Church of St. Stephen (also known as "the Iron Church"). 

The peaceful visit is part of the history of the Church and has developed especially thanks to the easier possibilities for travel over the past two centuries. Church tradition prescribes that every newly elected head of a local Church - a patriarchate or an archbishopric - undertake a peaceful message and visit to the local Orthodox Churches. Such a visit culminates in the concelebration of a divine liturgy and communion in the Body and Blood of Christ, thereby bearing witness to unity in faith and brotherly love among the local Churches. 

In the most recent history of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, all its primates over the past 80 years have carried out peaceful visits not only to the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul but also to the other local Orthodox Churches, the BOC explained.

"The visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople marks an important ecclesiastical moment, affirming the bonds of communion, respect, and brotherly cooperation between the two Churches," Orthodoxtimes.com commented.