Bulgaria Declares Day of National Mourning

Bulgaria has declared a day of national mourning today after a bus crash late last night killed eight passengers and wounded a further twenty-two. Members of the Holy Synod served a memorial for the victims this morning in the synodal Church of St. Boris. More here and (in Bulgarian) here.

Patriarch Maxim "Alive and Well"

Despite rumors to the contrary circulating in Bulgaria 96-year old Patriarch Maxim of Sofia is "alive and well" and concelebrated this past Sunday Liturgy with other senior hierarchs of the Church of Bulgaria at the synodal Church of St. Boris in Sofia.

Patriarch Maxim was elected first hierarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church under the Communists, but was retained as patriarch after the overthrow of Communism in the country despite his offer in the 1990s to retire. More here.