Two bishops shortlisted to be Bulgarian Orthodox Church’s next Metropolitan of Vidin
In a secret ballot vote in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church’s diocese of Vidin on February 2, two bishops were shortlisted to be the next Metropolitan and thus a member of the church’s governing body.
The post of Metropolitan of Vidin has been vacant since June 2024 when Daniil was elected Patriarch.
Twenty-nine voters, choosing from among seven candidates, gave the largest shares of votes to Branitsa Bishop Pahomiy, who got 24, and Melnik Bishop Gerasim, 18.
Pahomiy, 47, is vicar of the Sofia Metropolitan (a post held ex officio by the Patriarch), and Gerasim, 45, has been chief secretary of the Holy Synod since 2014, when he has appointed to that post by Patriarch Neofit.
Pahomiy, left, and Gerasim.
Should the Holy Synod decide that the diocesan election was canonical, it will vote on February 9 at the synod’s headquarters in Sofia to elect the new Metropolitan.
(Photo of Vidin cathedral: Bononia1, via Wikimedia Commons)
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