With Patriarch Neophyte of Bulgaria, US Ambassador on Religious Freedom Samuel Brownback met on Thursday, May 9.
The meeting was held at the Patriarchal Palace in Sofia, on the occasion of Brownback’s visit to the country.
During the meeting, Brownback discussed with the Patriarch about his Easter visits, which included talks on religious freedom and the opposition to religious persecution throughout the world.
Also, the US State Department spokesman expressed the wish to cooperate with the Bulgarian Orthodox Church on religious issues and invited Patriarch Neophyte to attend a conference to be held in July in Washington.
For his part, the Primate of the Bulgarian Church thanked the Ambassador for his visit, stressing that “peace and tolerance were always important to us. In Sofia, four professions, Orthodox, Catholics, Jews and Muslims, coexist peacefully.”
In the high-profile guests’ book, Brownback expressed his desire to deepen and strengthen the relations between the US and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.