Daniil of Vidin new Patriarch of Bulgarian Orthodox Church

Metropolitan Daniil of Vidin, 52 years old, is the new Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and Metropolitan of Sofia. He succeeded the late Neofit, who passed away last 13 March, at the age of 78, after leading the Church for 11 years.

The new patriarch was elected on Sunday, 30 June, by the delegates of the Patriarchal Electoral Church Council who were gathered at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Daniil won 69 votes against the Metropolitan of Vratsa, Grigory, who was backed by 66 delegates. Of the 140 Council delegates — made up of clergy and laypeople — 138 were present. To elect the Patriarch a two-thirds majority is required.

Daniil of Vidin was born Atanas Triandafilov Nikolov on 2 March 1972, in the city of Smolyan. In 1996 he enrolled for a degree in English Philology at Sofia University before switching to the Theology department a year later. He became a monk in 1999 and was ordained a deacon.

In 2004 he was sent to Rozhen Monastery where he was ordained a priest and in 2006 was appointed Archimandrite (ed. superior of a monastery in Eastern Churches). Daniil was consecrated a bishop in 2008 and was appointed vicar of the Metropolis of Nevrokop, the Orthodox archdiocese headquartered in the southern Bulgarian town of Gotse Delchev. Two years later he was appointed vicar of the Orthodox Metropolis of the United States, Canada and Australia. He was elected Metropolitan of Vidin on 4 February 2018.