Adrianople, Turkey, October 7, 2019
Photo: fanarion.blogspot.com
OrthoChristian reported last Thursday that His Eminence Metropolitan Cyprian of Stara Zagora of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church did not receive a blessing from the Ecumenical Patriarchate to serve at the Church of Sts. Constantine and Helen, which serves a Bulgarian community in Adrianople.
As the Greek outlet Romfea reported, Met. Cyprian did not know why he was not blessed, but he speculated that it was either because the Bulgarian Church has not recognized the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” that Constantinople created last year, or because the church in Adrianople has a bust of the Bulgarian Exarch Bishop John (Yovchev) in its yard, who initiated the separation of the Bulgarian Church from the Patriarchate of Constantinople in the 19th century.
According to a new statement from Metropolitan Amphilochios of Adrianople, also published by Romfea, the bust of the Bulgarian Exarch was the cause for not blessing Met. Cyprian to serve.
The statement notes that Met. Cyprian had received an invitation from the Bulgarian community to Adrianople to serve Liturgy at the Church of Sts. Constantine and Helen, and thus he appealed to Patriarch Bartholomew for his blessing to serve there, who referred the issue to the local hierarch, Met. Amphilochios, who did not bless.
According to the statement, the bust of the Exarch was erected in the church yard a number of years ago, unbeknownst to the Patriarchate of Constantinople. However, while Romfea reported that Met. Cyprian spoke of a bust of Exarch Joseph (Yovchev), the statement from the Metropolis of Adrianople says the bust is of Exarch Anthim (Chalakov), who “was the pioneer of the Bulgarian schism, which plagued the Church for about 75 years.”
For this reason, the Ecumenical Patriarchate has banned Bulgarian clergy from celebrating Liturgy at the Church of Sts. Constantine and Helen until the bust is removed.
Met. Amphilochios, “faithful to the practice of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,” did not grant permission to Met. Cyprian to serve.
According to the statement, Bulgarian clergy have known and respected this stance of the Patriarchate for many years, though Met. Cyprian seemed to be unaware of it.
Met. Cyprian, and any other Bulgarian clergy, are always welcome to serve at the Church of St. George or to pray in the Church of Sts. Constantine and Helen, Met. Amphilochios writes.
