Sofia, September 22, 2026
Patriarch Bartholomew. Photo: kommersant.ru Clergy, monastics, and laypeople of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church have sent an open letter to the Holy Synod asking it to cancel Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople’s planned visit to Rila Monastery on October 19, when the church marks 1,150 years since the birth and 1,080 years since the repose of St. John of Rila.
An online petition supporting the letter has gathered 1,253 signatures as of the time of writing of this article.
The Holy Synod decided on June 26 to invite Patriarch Bartholomew to preside over the festal Divine Liturgy at Rila Monastery on the saint’s feast day. The letter’s authors note that the primates of the other Local Orthodox churches, and even representatives of the ancient Pentarchy, weren’t invited, breaking with the protocol and decades-long practice of past celebrations.
The letter cites a series of statements Patriarch Bartholomew made in 2026 that conflict with Orthodox dogma and canon law, including addresses in Vilnius on June 8 and in Budapest on September 4. It says he’s promoted a “Divided Church” ecclesiology, called for removing “the security of dogmatic boundaries,” and praised the restoration of the title “Patriarch of the West” for the Pope, all while the Vatican hasn’t renounced any of its own doctrinal errors.
The letter also points to Patriarch Bartholomew’s 2019 tomos granting autocephaly to the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine”—an uncanonical act carried out against the will of Ukraine’s Orthodox faithful and in violation of another Church’s canonical territory. The petition notes that decision has since been used to justify persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, including the seizure of churches, desecration of relics at the Kiev Caves Lavra, and the imprisonment of confessor-hierarchs.
Quoting the 45th and 46th Apostolic Canons and the 15th Canon of the First-Second Council of Constantinople, the letter argues that concelebrating the Eucharist with a hierarch who openly professes ecumenist and syncretist views would constitute a serious temptation for Bulgaria’s Orthodox faithful.
It asks the Synod to reconsider its decision in light of Patriarch Bartholomew’s statements in Istanbul on July 29, 2025, and in Vilnius and Budapest earlier this year, so as to preserve peace and unity within the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
A separate appendix to the letter lists specific dogmatic objections to the Vilnius and Budapest addresses, including claims that Patriarch Bartholomew reframed the Great Schism in geopolitical rather than theological terms, downplayed the significance of heresy by calling it a “sickness,” and promoted what it calls “legal ecumenism” through the pursuit of institutional compromises with Rome and Protestant communities.
Additionally, as Fakti.bg notes, Orthodox Christians are concerned that if Patriarch Bartholomew heads the Liturgy, he will commemorate the head of the schismatic OCU, which the Bulgarian Orthodox Church doesn’t recognize. His Holiness Patriarch Daniil has been particularly strong in his Orthodox stance regarding the ecclesiastical schism in Bulgaria.
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