Greeting of Cardinal Koch for the feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius

On 27 May, on the feast day of Saints Cyril and Methodius in the Julian calendar, His Eminence Antonij (Mihalev), Metropolitan for Central and Western Europe of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, presided over the Divine Liturgy in the Basilica of Saint Clement, where there are relics of Saint Cyril.

In his greeting at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, Cardinal Koch reflected that the Apostle Saints of the Slavs where a spiritual bridge between the Eastern and Western traditions, and that they can help us, through dialogue and prayer,  to rediscover visible unity in perfect communion. After the celebration, the Cardinal greeted the Bulgarian delegation and the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, Mr Rumen Radev, as well as Metropolitan Antonij and the Bulgarian Orthodox community of Rome together with its new pastor, Reverend Ivan Ivanov.

On 31 December 2020, for the 40th anniversary of the proclamation by Saint Pope John Paul II with the Apostolic Letter Egregiae virtutis of Saints Cyril and Methodius as co–patrons of Europe, Cardinal Koch expressed his best wishes for the occasion, highlighting that “Saints Cyril and Methodius, who are venerated both in the West and East, are for all of us witnesses of undivided unity at is wellspring, and of the possibility of holding diversity together”.