Patriarch Neophyte (;

secular name A legal name is the name that identifies a person for legal, administrative and other official purposes. A person's legal birth name generally is the name of the person that was given for the purpose of Civil registry, registration of the birth ...

: Simeon Nikolov Dimitrov; ; 15 October 1945 – 13 March 2024) was the

Patriarch of All Bulgaria The Patriarch of All Bulgaria () is the patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The patriarch is officially styled as ''Patriarch of All Bulgaria and Metropolitan of Sofia''. The current patriarch Daniil acceded to this position on 30 June 20 ...

, head of the

Bulgarian Orthodox Church The Bulgarian Orthodox Church (), legally the Patriarchate of Bulgaria (), is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox jurisdiction based in Bulgaria. It is the first medieval recognised patriarchate outside the Pentarchy and t ...

from 24 February 2013 until his death on 13 March 2024. Prior to his election, he was the Metropolitan Bishop of Ruse (2001–2013) and Bishop of Dorostol and Cherven (1994–2001).

Biography

After completing his primary education in the fall of 1959, Dimitrov was accepted as a student at the Sofia Theological Seminary in Cherepish Monastery, and completed his studies in 1965. In 1971 he graduated from the Sofia Theological Academy of St. Clement of Ohrid, and later trained in church singing at the

Moscow Theological Academy Moscow Theological Academy () is a higher educational institution of the Russian Orthodox Church, training clergy, teachers, scholars, and officials. The Academy traces its origin to the Slavic Greek Latin Academy, which was founded in 1685 by th ...

. On 3 August 1975, at the

Troyan Monastery The Monastery of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God () or, as it is more commonly called, the Troyan Monastery is the third largest monastery in Bulgaria. It is located in the northern part of the country in the Balkan Mountains and was ...

, he took monastic vows with the name

Neophyte A neophyte is a recent initiate or convert to a subject or belief. Neophyte may also refer to: Science * Neophyte (botany), a plant species recently introduced to an area As a proper noun Arts and entertainment * Neophyte, a character class ...

in a ceremony overseen by Patriarch Maxim of Bulgaria. The following year, he was ordained

hierodeacon A hierodeacon (Greek: Ἱεροδιάκονος, ''Ierodiákonos''; Slavonic: ''Ierodiakón''), sometimes translated "deacon-monk", in Eastern Orthodox Christianity and all other Churches that follow Byzantine Rite is a monk who has been ordained a ...

the same month and as hieromonk at the St. Nedelya Church in Sofia. From 1975 onwards he was conductor of the ecclesiastical choir in Sofia and in 1977 became a lecturer in Orthodox Singing at the Sofia Theological Academy. Neophyte was ordained

archimandrite The title archimandrite (; ), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot ('' hegumenos'', , present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") whom a bishop appointed to supervise several "ordinary" abbots and monaste ...

by Patriarch Maxim on 21 November 1977 at

St Nedelya Church Saint Nedelya Cathedral (), is an Eastern Orthodox cathedral in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, a cathedral of the Sofia bishopric of the Bulgarian Patriarchate. The temple of Sveta Nedelya dates back to the 10th century, being a cathedral of th ...

. Between 1983 and 1990, Neophyte was an agent of the Sixth Directorate of the Committee for State Security, communist

secret police image:Putin-Stasi-Ausweis.png, 300px, Vladimir Putin's secret police identity card, issued by the East German Stasi while he was working as a Soviet KGB liaison officer from 1985 to 1989. Both organizations used similar forms of repression. Secre ...

, under the secret name "Simeonov". Sixteen pages of his personal file have been preserved, in which Neophyte was described as:

"Very religious, devoted to the church, Bishop Neophyte is formed as a conservative young prelates, supporters to keep the old traditions of the Orthodox Church. Particularly active events in expanding religious activities started after the socialist countries in processes of reconstruction and democratization, especially after the USSR held a celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the Russian Orthodox Church. Began openly to advocate for full independence and non-interference of the state in religious activities and church government."

Neophyte died at a hospital in Sofia on 13 March 2024, at the age of 78 after having suffered from a lung illness in the previous four months. The Bulgarian government declared two days of mourning over his death. He was buried at

Saint Nedelya Church Saint Nedelya Cathedral (), is an Eastern Orthodox cathedral in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, a cathedral of the Sofia bishopric of the Bulgarian Patriarchate. The temple of Sveta Nedelya dates back to the 10th century, being a cathedral of th ...

on 16 March following a memorial service at the Saint Alexander Nevski Cathedral officiated by

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople Bartholomew (born Dimitrios Archontonis, 29 February 1940) is the current Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople since 1991. In accordance with his title, he is regarded as the ''primus inter pares'' (fir ...

Bishop

On 8 December 1985, at the Patriarchal cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky, Neophyte was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Levki and was appointed second Vicar bishop of the Eparchy of Sofia. On 1 December 1989, Bishop Neophyte was elected Rector of the Sofia Theological Academy, and after the restoration of the Faculty of Theology of the

Sofia University Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" () is a public university, public research university in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is the oldest institution of higher education in Bulgaria. Founded on 1 October 1888, the edifice of the university was constr ...

on 26 July 1991, Neophyte was elected dean of the restored Faculty. He was later appointed Chief Secretary of the Holy Synod and Chairman of the Church Trusteeship of Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. He held the post until January 1992, when he was appointed Secretary of the Holy Synod. As Secretary of the Holy Synod and chairman of the church board at the Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevski during the schism in the

, he played an important role in the negotiations for the liberation of the occupied Synod Office. On 27 March 1994, he was elevated to the title of

Metropolitan bishop In Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), is held by the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a Metropolis (reli ...

, and on 3 April the same year was appointed a diocesan Bishop of the Eparchy of Dorostol and Cherven. In 2001, the fifth ecclesiastical and national council decided to split the Eparchy of Dorostol and Cherven into separate eparchies of Dorostol and Ruse, at which time Neophyte was titled Bishop of Ruse.

Patriarch

After the death of Patriarch Maxim on 10 November 2012, Neophyte was supported by one of 12 bishops present at an election by secret ballot for deputy chairman of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. At the church council convened to elect a new Patriarch on 24 February 2013, he was elected Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church with 90 votes, against 47 for Metropolitan Gabriel of Lovech. As Patriarch, he met with

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

during the latter's visit to Bulgaria in 2019, in what was seen to be a thaw in relations between the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

and the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

References

{{Authority control 1945 births 2024 deaths Clergy from Sofia Patriarchs of Bulgaria Sofia University alumni Burials at St Nedelya Church Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 1st class