National Unity Prayer to Be Held in Bulgaria's Capital

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church will hold a prayer for national unity at the St. Alexander Nevsky Patriarchal Cathedral in Sofia Tuesday evening.

The prayer will not be presided by Patriarch Neofit, as believed earlier, but by the St. Alexander Nevsky Catherdal board of trustees head, the Tiveriopolis Bishop Tikhon.

The event was initiated by a group of rightist Orthodox intellectuals, who issued an open letter to Neofit, calling him to summon a prayer after more than 50 days of street protests against Bulgaria's new cabinet.

The day of the solemn service, which will start at 6.30 pm EET, was chosen to coincide with the Christian feast of the Transfiguration of Christ.

Tuesday Patriach Neofit served Transfiguration Mass at the metropolitan Holy Trinity cathedral in Ruse.

He will issue a message calling for "pacification of the Bulgarian people," vowing that the Church will "stay close to its people" in times of hardship.

Neofit also held a memorial service for predecessor Patriarch Maxim, who passed away nine months ago.