Source: Peter Anderson, Seattle USA
Patriarch Daniil of Bulgaria has completed his first “Peace Visit” as a recently elected primate of a Local Orthodox Church. It was a four-day (Dec. 25-28) visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Before the visit, it was well-known that differences exist between Patriarch Daniil and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on important issues such as the status of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) and the existence of primacy at the universal level. There are no indications that these differences were resolved by the visit. However, the dialogue and personal contacts that occurred resulted in a visit that was marked by great personal warmth between the two primates. In my opinion, it is a sign of hope that the various Local Orthodox Churches, in spite of differences, can maintain their bonds of love.
On December 28, Patriarch Daniil celebrated the last Liturgy of the visit at the Church of St. Stephen (the “Iron Church”), located in the Yeşilköy district of Istanbul. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was present. The full text of Patriarch Daniil’s address at the end of the Liturgy is posted at https://bg-patriarshia.bg/news/slovo-pozdravlenie-na-balgarskia-patriarh-daniil-sled-kraya. It reads as follows:
We are happy on this last day of the program of our Peace Visit to the Mother Church to take part in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, at a place that is memorable for every Orthodox Bulgarian heart: the former suburb, today a district of this royal city, where in 1878 the peace treaty was signed, marking the beginning of the life of the Third Bulgarian State.
After our welcome at the Holy Ecumenical Patriarchate and the holy services in the Patriarchal Church of St. George and the historic Bulgarian Church of St. Stephen, the unforgettable moments in the Metropolis of Chalcedon and in the Church of the Holy Archangels, our visit to this historical place and today’s Divine Liturgy in this holy temple of God give amazing fullness to our visit to the great Church of Christ and turn it into an event that will remain forever in our memory.
With gratitude and appreciation for all the wonderful moments and all the abundant spiritual joy that we have experienced here, we sincerely wish the Holy Patriarchate of Constantinople a peaceful and blessed future in the fullness of joy in our Risen Lord Jesus Christ, in testimony to holy Orthodoxy and to the boundless love that God generously pours out upon all men and all creation, but especially upon those for whom He is a “fortress” and a “shield” and whose hearts trust in Him (cf. Ps. 27:7).
We will keep the warmest memories of all the services, all the fraternal meetings and events from the program of this visit, which, we are confident, will remain in the Chronicles of the Holy Bulgarian Orthodox Church as truly historical and another most categorical manifestation of our God-blessed unity in the faith we profess and the hope we share. We believe that our Lord is and remains in our midst, because we too are and remain gathered in His holy name (cf. Matt. 18:20). “There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is… in us all” (Eph. 4:5-6). May this unity of ours and this mutual love of ours endure forever.
May God’s peace and His great mercy be with us all!
The official website of the Bulgarian Patriarchate also reported on certain remarks made by the two primates to the media on December 28. https://bg-patriarshia.bg/news/sas-sveta-liturgia-zavarshi-mirnoto-poseshtenie-na-balgarski Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew stated: It is a great joy to have this distinguished and most honored guest, the Bulgarian Patriarch Daniil, with us. We have spent these few days so warmly and pleasantly with him that we are now sorry that he is leaving. We thank him very much for undertaking this peace visit, which already constitutes a historic event. Patriarch Daniil stated: The message that we received during the visit and that we will take back to our homeland and convey to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is that our hearts were filled with peace. Photos and videos of the events at St. Stephen can be seen at https://orthodoxtimes.com/visit-of-patriarch-of-bulgaria-concluded-with-the-divine-liturgy-videophotos/.
Patriarch Daniil on the day of his arrival at the Phanar conveyed to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew the Order of “St. John of Rila,” 1st Degree – the highest award of the Bulgarian Patriarchate. Patriarch Daniil stated: “The Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church – Bulgarian Patriarchate decided, as a sign of our love and respect for you and of gratitude for your merits in overcoming this schism [the schism within the Bulgarian Church which was resolved in 1998], to award Your Holiness the Order of the Holy Bulgarian Patriarchate “St. John of Rila” – First Degree.” https://bg-patriarshia.bg/news/slovo-otgovor-na-balgarskia-patriarh-i-sofiyski-mitropolit-d In this regard, it should be noted that the decision to convey the award was made by the Holy Synod. In the Bulgarian Patriarchate, important decisions are made by the Synod. Like other members of the Bulgarian Synod, the Patriarch has only one vote, and a decision can be approved even if the Patriarch votes against it. It is not known whether or not Patriarch Daniil personally supported this award. A considerable number of the members of the Bulgarian Synod favor the Phanar over Moscow. In fact, three members of the Synod (Metropolitans Nikolay of Plovdiv, Cyprian of Stara Zagora, and Yakov of Dorostol) concelebrated with a hierarch of the OCU in May 2024. Daniil, prior to his election as patriarch, was considered to be one of the Synod members more oriented toward Moscow. That is one reason why Daniil’s visit to the Phanar has been carefully watched.
Immediately before traveling to Istanbul, Patriarch Daniel gave an interview which was posted on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VLqGc4BuVo The interview included the following remarks by the Patriarch: There is no reason for alarm among the Bulgarian Orthodox. There is anxiety among some believers and this needs to be said clearly. The peace visit to the Ecumenical Patriarch is traditional and is a sign of the unity of the Church. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church has not recognized the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and does not mention it in the diptychs. This difference is clear and is known to both sides. An agreement was made that during the concelebration there would be no participation of hierarchs from this church structure – a commitment that the Ecumenical Patriarch has made. Communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate has not been interrupted, just as it has not been interrupted in other similar cases. The way to overcome disagreements is not a rupture, but the preservation of communion with a clear and honest confession of positions, with trust in the conciliar voice of the Church. However, this understanding did not preclude the Ecumenical Patriarchate from following its current practice of including the primate of the OCU in the diptychs. When Ecumenical Patriarchate Bartholomew and Patriarch Daniil celebrated the Divine Liturgy together on December 26 at the Patriarchal Church of St. George at the Phanar, the OCU primate was mentioned in the diptychs as usual, but Patriarch Daniil did not join in this inclusion. https://spzh.eu/en/news/89879-patriarch-bartholomew-commemorates-ocu-head-in-the-presence-of-boc-patriarch; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yc_5FLtsHRY (video)
With respect to news from Ukraine, there are presently two lawsuits filed by DESS to terminate a religious organization in Ukraine. The first, a lawsuit by DESS to terminate the Kyiv Metropolis of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, has received by far the most attention in the media. The second lawsuit seeks to terminate the Koretsky Holy Trinity Women’s Stavropegic Monastery, located in the Rivne Region of Ukraine. Why has DESS filed a separate lawsuit against this single monastery? This reason is that this monastery is not part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church but is rather a “stavropegic” monastery under the direct control and canonical governance of the Patriarch of Moscow. In the Moscow Patriarchate, there are 37 monasteries that have stavropegic status. All are located within the Russian Federation except for the Koretsky Monastery in Ukraine and the Pühtitsa Monastery in Estonia. https://www.patriarchia.ru/church/orgs/stavropigial
For many centuries, the Koretsky Monastery was located within the borders of Catholic Lithuania or Poland. It became famous as a bastion of Orthodoxy. With the change of borders resulting from Yalta, the Monastery came under the control of the Soviet Union. Surprisingly, the communists never closed the Monastery. The Monastery received its Patriarchal stavropegial status in1984 as the result of a decree issued by Russian Patriarch Pimen. The famous wonderworking “Surety of Sinners” Icon of the Mother of God is located at the Monastery. https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/0215/05/25/101534-surety-of-sinners-icon-of-the-mother-of-god-of-korets
Because of the stavropegial status of the Monastery, the expert panel of DESS had no difficulty in concluding the Koretsky Monastery was part of the Russian Orthodox Church. https://dess.gov.ua/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Doslidzhennia-Koretskyy-monastyr-17.10.2025.pdf (administrative proceedings No. A/990/18/25; decision of October 17, 2025). DESS filed a lawsuit in November with the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal to terminate the Koretsky Monastery. (Case 855/14/25) On November 24, the Court found that DESS had improperly combined claims (a termination claim and a liquidation of assets claim) and returned the claims to DESS to correct this procedural problem. https://dess.gov.ua/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Ukhvala-povernennia-pozovu-24.11.2025.855_14_25.pdf DESS declined to make the correction and instead filed an appeal with the Cassation Administrative Court, a part of the Ukrainian Supreme Court. The Cassation Administrative Court has now accepted this appeal and will hold a hearing on the appeal on January 15. 2026. https://dess.gov.ua/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Ukhvala-pryznachennia-15.01.2026-855_14_25.pdf
It is very likely that the Ukrainian courts will ultimately find that the Koretsky Monastery is subject to termination under the language of Ukrainian Law 3894. However, the Monastery may well argue that international law relating to freedom of religion prevents the termination.
Lastly, Metropolitan Antony (Pakanich) of Boryspil, who has apparently assumed the role of the spokesperson of the wing of the UOC which resists change, has recently been speaking out frequently. For example, on December 17, he posted on YouTube a 30-minute video in the Russian language with the title, “The trial of the Church. What’s next?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0VsAQ8LOkw In the video, he attacks the Ecumenical Patriarch (14:23 – 16:50) and also the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (24:22 – 25:14). On December 24, the Serbian religious website, Life of the Church, posted a long interview of Metropolitan Antony. https://zivotcrkve.rs/blog/mitropolit-antonije-pakanich-odbrana-svetina-i-prava-vernika-je-oblik-ispovednishtva-intervju The interview includes statements by Metropolitan Antony such as the following:
We are not aware of any public, official, and unambiguous statements by the Patriarchate of Constantinople that would clearly and explicitly condemn the violent occupation of Ukrainian Orthodox Church temples, violence against believers, desecration of holy sites, or attacks on bishops and clergy. Nor have public appeals been made to supporters of the “OCU” calling for an immediate cessation of such actions and for respect for canonical and civil order.
Therefore, in the form in which unification is sometimes presented in the media — as a compromise or mutual recognition without a canonical resolution of the problem — it is unsustainable and unacceptable to the Orthodox Church. It contradicts the very foundations of the church’s being and challenges the notion of grace, the sacraments, and apostolic succession.
When it comes to the possibility of restoring communion between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Patriarchate of Constantinople, it should be emphasized that the Church by its very nature always lives in accordance with the hope for peace and the restoration of unity, for divisions are wounds in the Body of Christ. However, such restoration can be achieved exclusively on the basis of canonical truth, and not by keeping quiet or ignoring the existing violation of church order. A true renewal of communion is possible only with the recognition of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as the only canonical Church in Ukraine, with a renunciation of support for schismatic structures and a return to the conciliar, pan-church way of resolving issues concerning the fullness of universal Orthodoxy. Without this, no outward forms of “coexistence” or the creation of “parallel centers” will lead to true peace in the Church.
Peter Anderson, Seattle USA