Bulgarian Patriarch Visits Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew,Reopens Iron Church

According to the Press Office of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,His Holiness Patriarch Neophytos of Bulgaria visited His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople on 7 January 2018.Both Churches had observed Christmas on 25 December.This brief journey of Patriarch Neophytos was focused on the reopening of the Bulgarian Exarchate in Constantinople's St.Stephen's Church,the so-called Iron Church.*
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew welcomed the Bulgarian Primate to the Great Church of Christ with fraternal affection:
We welcome you to the Mother Church with much love and honour and cordiality.We rejoice because we encounter you at this time of the New Year,which we hope will be full of divine blessings for you personally,Your Holiness,and for the Holy Church of Bulgaria.We are delighted that your arrival in Constantinople is on the occasion of a very gratifying event such as the major renovation of the nearby St.Stephen's Church.This is a very big event for our city,for our Ecumenical Patriarchate,for the dear Bulgarian parish,and for all the Orthodox.We glorify God and wish that He will give us more such pleasant events and happy reunions.*
Patriarch Bartholomew went on to say:
I look forward to our further communication during the luncheon offered by the dear Bulgarian community,together with the Prime Minister of Bulgaria,to whom I will wish a blessed and successful Presidency of the European Union this semester.These are our wishes for the progress and visibility of Bulgaria,and I repeat them to Your Holiness and your dear entourage.*
Patriarch Neophytos was accompanied by the Metropolitans Gavriil of Roussos,Naoum of Loftsos and Kiprianos of Stara Zagora,as well as other clergy.Following their meeting,the two Primates went to the Bulgarian Exarchate in Sisli,Istanbul,where they prayed at the Church of St.John of Rila.Afterwards,they attended the official luncheon to mark the restoration of St.Stephen's Church.*
St.Stephen's was one of a number of pre-fabricated cast iron churches that were an architectural trend of the nineteenth century.It is one of the few iron churches surviving to this day,but had fallen into a decrepit condition.*
On 8 January 2018,President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov attended the reopening of St.Stephen's on its 120th anniversary.The restoration project began in 2011.It was financed by the Metropolitan Municipality of Istanbul (four million dollars) and the Government of Bulgaria (250,000 dollars).*
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church has about 6.5 million members in Bulgaria and some 1.5-2 million members in the diaspora.It is the most ancient of the Slavic Orthodox Churches,with its official origin in the conversion of Prince Boris I in 865.