Sawt Falasteen - Bulgaria's Orthodox Christian patriarch dies aged 78

He died at 10:22 pm (2022 GMT) "following multi-organ failure after a long illness," the synod said in a statement.

The patriarch had been hospitalised with lung disease since last November at the military medical academy in the capital Sofia, where he died.

Neophyte was elected in February 2013 as leader of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, whose faithful make up two-thirds of the country's population.

He succeeded Bulgaria's longest-serving patriarch, Maxim, who led the church for over 40 years.

Neophyte, originally named Simeon Dimitrov, was born into a deeply religious family and graduated from the Sofia Theological Academy in 1971.

The charismatic religious leader was generally acclaimed as one of the most diplomatic figures of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, successfully quelling infighting among members of the Holy Synod after Patriarch Maxim's death.

And while many of the church's bishops drew criticism by wearing lavish wristwatches to mass and driving expensive cars, Neophyte was known for his modesty over the years.

In 2012, the opening of Bulgaria's Communist archives revealed that he had collaborated with the secret service under the country's former dictatorship. His file, however, only contained reports on his own activities, and no documents compromising other people.

"I never wanted to defame anyone or benefit from the privileges of the Darzhavna Sigurnost secret police," he said at the time.

Shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Neophyte called on the faithful to "pray for an immediate end to the war", openly siding with Kyiv, even though the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is reputed to be close to Moscow.

He refused to hold a joint mass with Pope Francis when the Catholic leader visited Bulgaria in 2019, due to the ecclesiastical schism, and only met with the pope in the capital's golden-domed Alexander Nevski Cathedral.

The synod will meet Thursday to discuss the details of his funeral.

A.AlHaj--SF-PST