"This is a historical precedent in the history of the Bulgarian Church. Never before has a bishop been greeted with the exclamation 'unworthy'. This is a very strong signal that our patience has run out, because the red line of the Church canon has already been crossed. The autocephaly of the Bulgarian Church, i.e. its independence from earthly authorities, has been violated. These services with Pyotr Eremeev and the schismatic Ukrainian bishops place the Bulgarian Church in a subordinate position to the Patriarch of Constantinople of Fener, who has the heretical claim to be an empowered "universal bishop". This is a sacrilegious heresy, for the universal bishop is Christ Himself. 

In the words of Georgi Todorov, those who allow this heresy are on the wrong side of the truth, of Jesus Christ. "This is a betrayal of ourselves, a betrayal of all that is holy in Bulgarian history, a betrayal of the future of Bulgaria, and this is the gravest of sins," the theologian stresses, adding that there is still hope that the conscience of the bishops will wake up and speak out in the upcoming election of the Patriarch: 

The Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in its letter of 12 June 2017 defines the structure of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) as "a self-proclaimed non-canonical structure, which has no relation to the canonical world Orthodoxy and together with the extremists encroaches on the sacred patrimony of the entire Ukrainian people." Attacks on the Orthodox believers in Ukraine are within the domain of the UN Human Rights Council, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, where a special commission on these issues has been established. That is why the representatives of the OCU are perceived by the Orthodox world as Christ's persecutors and any collaboration with them is unacceptable. That is why both priests and laity are adamant that the honour of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is being trampled upon in this way and have stood before the Holy Synod to call on the bishops to preserve the purity of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church:

"I am here to shed light on all this theater that is being played out with our bishops and to defend the canonical truth," notes Stoyan Atanasov from the village of Kurtovo Konare. "This affects our church, our canonical right to exist as an autocephalous church, and we are here to say "NO". We see, we know, we have read. We disagree, repent, and will restore the canonical order of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church!"

Angelina Markova came to Sofia alone, by bus from Pleven, blessed by her spiritual mentor to express the position of the laity of her diocese: "All this distress that is shaking the Bulgarian Church and all of us - laity and priests - is caused by the violation of many canonical rules. I come in the hope that our presence can make a difference. We cannot remain passive, because that would make us accomplices. As Christians, we can't afford to support evil, we can't so easily and so thoughtlessly betray all that the Holy Fathers have bequeathed to us. We must unite our efforts, all believers, all of us who truly and deeply believe in God".