Following the death of Patriarch Neophytus in March, the election of his successor took place this Sunday. Aged 52, he was the youngest of the three candidates presented to the Church’s electoral council. The enthronement ceremony took place in Sofia Cathedral, in the presence of Patriarch Bartholomew, representatives of the local Churches, Cardinal Kurt Koch and Apostolic Nuncio Luciano Suriani.
Vatican News
Metropolitan Daniel de Vidin, 52, is the new Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and Metropolitan of Sofia. He succeeds Néophyte, who died on March 13 at the age of 78 following a long illness. The new patriarch was elected on Sunday, June 30, in the second round of voting with 69 votes ahead of Metropolitan Gregory of Vratsa, credited with 66 votes, by the delegates of the electoral council of the Patriarchate Church gathered at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences . Of the 140 delegates of the Council – composed of clerics and lay people – 138 were present; a 2/3 majority is required to elect a patriarch.
The name of Daniel de Vidin was proposed to the Church’s electoral council on June 20 by the 14 metropolitans within a trio also including bishops Grégoire de Vratsa and Gabriel de Lovech.
The induction
Metropolitan Daniel was enthroned as the fourth Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in a ceremony on Sunday at the Cathedral of Saint Alexander Nevsky in Sofia, followed by a solemn procession from the seat of the Holy Synod. Present at the ceremony were Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, representatives of the Local Churches and, on behalf of the Holy See, Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, Father Jaromír Zádrapa, an official of the Eastern Section of the same Dicastery, and Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Luciano Suriani, as well as Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and Vice-President Iliana Yotova.
Who is the new patriarch?
Metropolitan Daniel de Vidin was born on March 2, 1972 in the city of Smolyan, under the baptismal name Atanas Nikolov. He received his primary and secondary education in his hometown and graduated from St. Kliment Ohrid University in Sofia, where he began studying English philology, before enrolling in the faculty of theology the next year. In 1997, he was a novice at the Hadjidimovo Saint-George-the-Victorious monastery. Two years later, he became a monk and was ordained hierodeacon. In 2004, he was sent in obedience to the Rozhen Monastery, where he was ordained a hieromonk, and two years later he became an archimandrite. In 2008, by the decision of the Holy Synod, he was appointed bishop of the Church of Saint Alexander Nevsky in Sofia, vicar of Metropolitan Nathanael of Nevrokopi, then of Metropolitan Joseph of the United States, Canada and Australia. On February 4, 2018, he was elected Metropolitan of Vidin.
