Jerusalem, September 28, 2026
Patriarchs Theophilos and Daniil concelebrated the feast of the Elevation of the Cross at the Holy Sepulchre. Photo: bg-patriarshia.bg
His Holiness Patriarch Daniil of Bulgaria is making his first peaceful visit to the Jerusalem Patriarchate, venerating the Holy Sepulchre and other holy sites across the Holy Land.
The visit began on Friday evening, September 25, when His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem welcomed Patriarch Daniil and his delegation at the Jaffa Gate before leading a procession to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, reports the Jerusalem Patriarchate.
There, the two primates venerated the Holy Stone of the Unction and the Holy Tomb, and Patriarch Daniil read the Second Resurrection Gospel of the Matins in Bulgarian.
In his welcoming address, Patriarch Theophilos called the visit “a confession of our common faith and a living testimony to the unity in Christ of the Holy Orthodox Church.” He later presented Patriarch Daniil with the Cross of the Holy Sepulchre and the Grand Cross of the Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, an honor he tied to Bulgaria’s centuries-old ties to Jerusalem and to the Jerusalem Patriarchate’s past role in helping resolve the schism that once divided the Bulgarian Church.
The Bulgarian Patriarch at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Photo: en-jeruslaem.patriarchate.info
Metropolitan Seraphim of Nevrokop and Bishop Gerasimos of Melnik, who traveled with the Bulgarian delegation, were each awarded the insignia of Grand Commander of the same order.
Patriarch Daniil, responding, thanked his host for the great honor and said the Cross of the Holy Sepulchre would remain “a lasting reminder of today’s fraternal meeting and of the communion in Christ shared by our Churches.” A dinner hosted by Patriarch Theophilos at the Notre Dame Hotel followed the exchange of addresses.
The next day, Patriarch Daniil traveled to the Bethlehem area, visiting the site of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives, the ROCOR Monastery of St. Mary Magdalene, and the Tomb of the Theotokos at Gethsemane. He then crossed into Bethlehem to venerate the Grotto of the Nativity in the Basilica of the Nativity, where he was received with the same honors given on Christmas Day, before visiting the Holy Lavra of St. Sabbas the Sanctified to venerate the saint’s relics.
On September 27, marking the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross on the Julian calendar, Patriarchs Theophilos and Daniil concelebrated the Hierarchical Liturgy at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, joined by Metropolitans of the Jerusalem Patriarchate and dozens of priests from Jerusalem, Bulgaria, Greece, and Romania. A procession followed the Liturgy, circling the Edicule of the Holy Sepulchre before ending at the Golgotha Chapel.
In his sermon, Patriarch Theophilos said the feast “reveals the paradox of the Christian faith: humility becomes glory, suffering—victory, death—life, and the tomb—a source of resurrection.” He added that the modern world, “shaken by wars, divisions, injustice, and various forms of intolerance, is desperately searching for peace.”
Patriarch Daniil, in his own remarks, recalled the historic links between the Bulgarian Church and the Jerusalem Patriarchate, noting that Bulgarian monks lived and worked in the Holy Sepulchre-affiliated monasteries of St. Sabbas and the Holy Archangels between the 16th and 18th centuries. He also thanked the late Patriarch Diodoros of Jerusalem for the support the Jerusalem Patriarchate gave the Bulgarian Church during the 1998 pan-Orthodox council that helped resolve its politically driven schism, and voiced concern for Christians across the Middle East, saying communities in the region “are being forced to leave their native places” amid ongoing conflict.
Patriarch Daniil’s peaceful visit is set to continue through September 30, with further stops planned at holy sites in the Holy Land.
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