The enthronement ceremony of the newly elected Patriarch Daniel of Bulgaria has been held 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 episcopal staff 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 took place in the presence of His All-Holiness 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 was 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 also attended the ceremony.
