Bulgarian Orthodox Church decides against sending delegation to Jerusalem to fetch ‘Holy Fire’ for Easter 2026

The governing body of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, the Holy Synod, said on April 9 that it had decided against sending a delegation to Jerusalem to fetch the “Holy Fire”.

The “Holy Fire” is an integral part of Eastern Orthodox Christian rituals at Easter, with believers regarding as a miracle the appearance of the flame in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem every Easter Saturday.

“In view of the ongoing military actions in the Middle East region and the Travel Risk Index to Israel and Palestine, level 5, determined by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria with a warning to suspend all travel and leave the area, the Holy Synod decided not to send a delegation to Israel and the holy city of Jerusalem for the transfer of the Holy Fire in Bulgaria,” the Holy Synod said in a post on Facebook.

Instead, the church will distribute the flame kept from last year from its chapel from 2pm on April 11, the statement said.

“We call Orthodox Christians to fervent prayer for an end to the conflict in the Middle East and for peace in the Holy Lands and everywhere in the world!” it said.

This is the second consecutive year that the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is declining to send a delegation to Jerusalem. In 2025, it received the flame from a Romanian Orthodox Church delegation.