site.bta Pope Leo XIV to Receive in Audience Prime Minister Zhelyazkov in Rome

Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov will visit the Vatican and Rome on May 22 and 23, on the eve of May 24 - the Day of the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius, the Bulgarian Alphabet, Education, Culture and Slavic Literature. Zhelyazkov will head an official Bulgarian delegation that will pay tribute to the holy places associated with the work of Saints Cyril and Methodius, the Council of Ministers' press service reported here on Wednesday.

On May 22, Prime Minister Zhelyazkov will lay wreaths at the monuments of Captain Petko Voyvoda and Ivan Vazov in Rome. On the same day, he will meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The main topics of discussion at the meeting include bilateral relations and current issues on the international agenda.

Later, the Prime Minister will lay a wreath at the monument of Saints Cyril and Methodius in the yard of the Bulgarian Embassy in Rome, where an official reception on the occasion of May 24 will be held.

On May 23, Pope Leo XIV will receive in audience the Prime Minister at the Apostolic Palace. Zhelyazkov will then meet Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Zhelyazkov will then attend a solemn liturgy at the San Clemente Basilica and honor the relics and tomb of St. Constantine-Cyril the Philosopher. The service will be led 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.

Prime Minister Zhelyazkov will also visit the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica, where he will lay a wreath and bow to the memorial plaque of Saints Cyril and Methodius.

During the visit, the Prime Minister will meet with the Grand Chancellor of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Riccardo Paterno di Montecupo.

The official delegation includes Culture Minister Marian Bachev, Deputy Education and Science Minister Tanya Mihaylova, Metropolitan Anthony and the Bishop of the Eparchy of St John XXIII for the Catholics of the Byzantine rite in Bulgaria, Petko Valov.