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The enthronement ceremony of the newly elected Bulgarian Patriarch Daniel has been hold at the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. It is recalled that Metropolitan Daniel of Vidin was elected the new Patriarch of Bulgaria, whereas Metropolitan Grigory of Vratsa came in second with 66 votes.
During the ceremony, the new patriarch will receive the crozier of the first Bulgarian patriarch following the restoration of the Bulgarian Patriarchate by Patriarch Cyril. Also, Patriarch Daniil will receive the engolpia, showing Jesus Christ, the Mother of God, and the Holy Cross. These sacred items also belonged to Patriarch Cyril and were crafted by an Armenian goldsmith from Plovdiv.
The enthronement occurs in the presence of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Elder Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon, Elder Metropolitan Apostolos of Derkoi, Metropolitan Job of Pisidia, and representatives from various local Orthodox Churches.
Specifically, the Patriarchate of Alexandria will be represented by Metropolitan Emmanuel of Diospolis; the Patriarchate of Jerusalem by Metropolitan Timotheos of Bostra, Exarch of the Holy Sepulchre in Cyprus, and Archimandrite Raphael, Exarch of the Holy Sepulchre in Greece; the Patriarchate of Romania by Metropolitan Nifon of Targoviste, Patriarchal Exarch, and Hierodeacon Nicolae Iftimiu; the Patriarchate of Georgia by Metropolitan Andrew of Gora and Protopresbyter Giorgi Zviadadze; the Church of Cyprus by Bishop Christoforos of Karpas, accompanied by Archimandrite Stylianos Stylianou; and the Church of Greece by Metropolitan Efstathios of Monemvasia and Sparta and Metropolitan Maximos of Ioannina. President Rumen Radev, Vice President Iliana Yotova, caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev, Speaker of the National Assembly Raya Nazaryan, and other politicians and dignitaries are attending the ceremony.
How the second round unfolded
Metropolitan Daniel of Vidin was elected the new Patriarch of Bulgaria.
Metropolitan Daniel of Vidin won the second round with 69 votes.
Metropolitan Grigory of Vratsa came in second with 66 votes, while 3 ballots were invalid.
In the first round of voting, Metropolitan Grigory of Vratsa led with 64 votes, qualifying for the second round. He was joined by Metropolitan Daniel of Vidin, who received 51 votes. Metropolitan Gavriil of Lovchan received 19 votes and was eliminated in the first round. There were 4 invalid ballots in the first round.
It is recalled that Metropolitans Grigory of Vratsa, Daniel of Vidin, and Gavriil of Lovchan was selected to form the triprosopon, from which the new Patriarch of Bulgaria was chosen.
In addition, the individuals who were to be elected as the Bulgarian Patriarch and Metropolitan of Sofia must meet the following criteria: they must be a serving diocesan Metropolitan of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, be at least 50 years old, have governed a diocese as a Metropolitan for at least five years, and be distinguished by sound Orthodox faith and strict adherence to church order.
138 delegates attended the Patriarchal Council, although 140 had registered yesterday. The Patriarchal Election Church Council began with a Sunday liturgy in the Synodal Chapel, served by Archimandrite Evtimii, the spiritual supervisor of the Sofia Diocese. After verifying the presence of delegates, the Vice-President of the Holy Synod, Metropolitan Grigoriy of Vratsa, led the participants to the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences for the official opening of the Council, declaring, “I declare the 4th Patriarchal Election Church Council open.” The new patriarch also paid homage to the St. Euthymius of Tarnovo relics, according to actualno.com.
Who is Metropolitan Daniel of Vidin
Atanas Trendafilov Nikolov was born in Smolyan on March 2, 1972. He graduated from the Sofia Theological Academy in 2002. On August 7, 1999, he became a monk in the Holy Monastery of St. George in the town of Hadjidimovo. He was ordained a deacon on August 8, 1999, and an elder on November 27, 2004, by Metropolitan Nathaniel of Nefrokop. On June 1, 2006, he received the title of Archimandrite. On January 20, 2008, he was ordained titular Bishop of Dragovitia and auxiliary Bishop of the Metropolis of Nefrokop. He served as abbot of the Holy Monastery of St. George in Hadjidimovo. On June 15, 2010, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Metropolis of America. On February 4, 2018, he was elected Metropolitan of Vidin.
