His Holiness Serbian Patriarch kyr Porfirije sent today a congratulatory message to His Holiness the newly elected Bulgarian Patriarch kyr Daniel, with the following content:

Your Holiness,

Dear brother and concelebrant in Christ,

On behalf of the Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church and on Our personal behalf, We fraternally extend cordial congratulations to You on Your election and enthronement to the holiest Throne of the Bulgarian Patriarchs.

The Pleroma of the entire Church of Christ, His Body, today exclaims and rejoices together with the clergy and faithful people of our sister Bulgarian Orthodox Church, recognizing the good will of the Holy Spirit and the collaboration of the fathers of the Assembly of Bishops, who in Your Holiness saw a worthy successor to her divinely wise Primates, choosing You as the new Head of the Bulgarian Patriarchate.

Your Holiness, it is God's will that all the peoples of the world know Him who is the true Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6) and through Him come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). Believing in these words, We trust that by bearing Christ's burden and light yoke (Matthew 11:30) as Primates, we will, with joint strength, tirelessly and without hesitation, preach the Truth, witnessing the Gospel of Christ and the faith of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, especially today when the evangelical value systems are being tested.

We pray to our Lord Jesus Christ to grant You an abundance of His grace, pastoral wisdom, and spiritual strength in the new obedience to which the Holy Spirit has called You.

With love in Christ the Lord,

ABM and SERBIAN PATRIARCH

Porfirije