“Our Lord, God, and the Holy Church bless only that army which does not demonstrate aggression and whose sole purpose is to protect and defend its people and country within internationally recognized territorial borders.”
Thus spoke Patriarch Neophyte of Bulgaria in his message for the Feast of Epiphany and the blessing of the country’s flags of the army. The message of the Patriarch was delivered by Metropolitan Antonios of Central Europe. It is recalled that in late November, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church announced that Patriarch Neophyte was hospitalized due to a lung condition.
Mr. Neophyte spoke of an uncertain world with increasingly bloody military conflicts. “In the Lord is our hope, even now that the power of evil rages so fiercely. The devastating war against our sister Ukraine once again reminded us all of the importance of the army for every nation and state.”
This might be the first time that the Patriarch of Moscow condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine, approximately two years after the war began, and speaks of a “devastating war” and “forces of evil.”
The relations between the two Churches, the Patriarchate of Bulgaria and the Patriarchate of Moscow, underwent a period of tension when last September Bulgaria expelled the head of the Russian Orthodox Church’s Representation in Sofia, Archimandrite Vassian, accusing him of serving Moscow’s geopolitical interests.
