Today’s world has an absolute need for peace and unity, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew told reporters on Sunday. Together with Bulgarian Patriarch and Metropolitan of Sofia Daniil, he is participating in a solemn hierarchical Divine Liturgy at the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky.

“I am extremely happy to visit Bulgaria once again as a guest of Bulgarian Patriarch and Metropolitan of Sofia Daniil,” Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew said, noting that during their recent meetings in Turkiye, the two had established and laid the foundations of a sincere and brotherly friendship.

“Today, the two of us will pray in this magnificent cathedral for peace throughout the world,” the Ecumenical Patriarch added.

According to him, the world currently has an absolute need for peace, and prayers will also be offered for the unity of the Churches.

He told the media that on Monday they would have visit the Rila Monastery to venerate St. John of Rila, a great saint of the Bulgarian Church and of all Orthodox Christianity, on the occasion of the commemorations marking the anniversaries of his birth and dormition.

In this regard, the Ecumenical Patriarch expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the devout Bulgarian people for the warm welcome and generous hospitality he experiences whenever he visits the country.