Neofit from Bulgaria

Patriarch Neofit (2013)

Neofit of Bulgaria ( Bulgarian Неофит Български born) as Simeon Nikolov Dimitrov (also Simeon Nikolov Dimitrov written bulg Симеон Николов Димитров;. * 15. October 1945 in Sofia ) is a Bulgarian Orthodox theologian , university professor, monk priest , bishop , former Metropolitan of the Diocese von Russe and since February 24, 2013 Metropolitan of the Diocese of Sofia and Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (BOK for short).

Life

Neofit von Bulgaria was born on October 15, 1945 as Simeon Dimitrov into a deeply religious working class family in the Bulgarian capital Sofia. After graduating from elementary school, he was accepted as a pupil in the fall of 1959 at the Spiritual Academy of Sofia , which at that time was located in the Tscherepisch Monastery . Simeon finished the academy in 1965. From September 1967 Dimitrov studied at the Sveti Kliment Ochridski Spiritual Academy (today the theological faculty of the University of Sofia ) in Sofia. After graduating in 1971, he specialized in theology and church singing at the Moscow Spiritual Academy until 1973 .

After graduating from the Moscow Academy, Simeon returned and on September 1, 1973 became a lecturer in church singing (see Orthodox Churches # Singing ) and conductor of the student choir of the Spiritual Academy Sweti Kliment Ochridski. Four years later he also became a lecturer in liturgy at the academy, where he taught until the end of 1980.

Simeon took his religious vows on September 1, 1975 , became a monk of the Trojan Monastery and was given the spiritual name Neofit. The next month he became the conductor of the Priestly Choir of the Diocese of Sofia. On March 25, 1976 Neofit was ordained a priest and on November 21, 1977 to Archimandrite by the then Patriarch in the Sofia Cathedral Sweta Nedelja . Between January 1st, 1981 and December 1985, Neofit was Protosingel of the Diocese of Sofia.

On December 8, 1985, Neofit was ordained bishop of the Levski diocese and second vicar of the Metropolitan of Sofia in the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia.

After the fall of the communist regime , Neofit became rector of the Sweti Kliment Ochridski Academy on December 1, 1989, and after its re-establishment as a faculty of the University of Sofia on July 26, 1991, its first dean. He held this post until January 1992, when Neofit was appointed secretary of the Holy Synod of BOK.

When a minority in the Holy Synod in 1992 renounced their obedience to the Patriarch Maxim , formed an "alternative synod" under the " Counter Patriarch Pimen " and occupied the Synodial Palace , Neofit played an important role in the negotiations for their release.

On March 27, 1994, Neofit was elected Metropolitan of the Diocese of Dorostol . When a church council in 2001 decided to divide the diocese, he became Metropolitan of the Diocese of Russe (formerly Cherven).

After the death of Patriarch Maxim on November 6, 2012, a church council met in Sofia on February 24. The council elected Neofit in the second ballot with 94 votes of the 138 delegates as the new Bulgarian patriarch. It was the first free patriarchal election of the BOK since the Middle Ages (the last freely elected patriarch was Euthymios (1375-1393), the elections of 1953 and 1971 took place under the influence of the Bulgarian Communist Party ). The minimum number of votes required for the election of the Patriarch was 92 votes.

Awards

• Honorary Doctorate from Sofia University (December 2, 2008)
• Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius (June 22, 2010)
• Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (1st class) (2013)

Web links

Commons : Neofit of Bulgaria  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Biography of Neofit ( memento of April 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), Diocese of Ruse, February 24, 2013
2. ↑ Любослава Русева: Църква в миши капан , In Тема, бр. 8, 25 февруари - 3 март 2013 г., p. 30.
3. ^ Bulgaria: Difficult choice of patriarchs ( Memento from February 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), Vatican Radio, February 17, 2013; Election of Bulgarian Patriarch Candidates Reaches Stalemate , February 16, 2013; The church council elects the new patriarch , mediapool.bg, February 24, 2013; Neofit is the new Patriarch (bulg.) , Dnevnik.bg, February 24, 2013
4. ↑ Bulgarian National Television: Русенският митрополит Неофит получи званието "Доктор хонорис кауза". (No longer available online.) Bnt.bg, December 2, 2008, formerly in the original ; Retrieved February 13, 2013 (Bulgarian).  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
5. ↑ Указ № 163 от 22 юни 2010 г. Държавен вестник, брой 49, 29 юни 2010 г.

predecessor	Office	successor
Maxim	Patriarch of Bulgaria since 2013