SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Thousands of people have joined funeral proceedings in Sofia for Patriarch Maxim, who was at the helm of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church for more than four decades.
The 98-year-old patriarch died Tuesday of heart failure at a Sofia hospital. The government has declared Friday a day of mourning. Church elders held funeral prayers Friday at Sofia's main Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, attended by heads of Orthodox churches from neighboring countries and senior government officials.
The Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of world's Orthodox Christians, led a liturgy. Maxim will be buried later Friday at the Troyan Monastery near the village of Oreshak where he was born.
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