PM Borissov Attends May 24 Observances in Rome

Rome, May 24 (BTA exclusive by Hristo Petrov) - Bulgarian Prime
Minister Boyko Borissov and his delegation, who are paying an
official two-day visit to the Vatican City and Rome, attended a
prayer service at the San Paolo alla Regola Church on Sunday
morning on the occasion of May 24, the Day of Bulgarian
Education and Culture and Slav Letters. The service was
celebrated by Metropolitan Antonii of Western and Central Europe
 in the presence of Bulgarians resident in Italy.

Since April 2013, the San Paolo Church has been used by the
Bulgarian Orthodox community in the Italian capital under an
agreement signed with Cardinal Agostino Vallini, the Vicar
General of Rome.

"This church, which Catholics hold very sacred, has been
provided to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church to perform its rites.
I thank Pope Francis and everybody who made this possible," the
MP said after the service. He added that we pray for an end to
disasters and accidents that claim human lives. "Some 67 million
 leva are allocated this year in support of spirituality and
culture," Borissov pointed out.

Asked about the financing provided for Bulgarian schools abroad,
 the Prime Minister said that economic growth and domestic
stability are an important factor of an increase of this
financing.

Surprisingly, the Primate of the Macedonian Orthodox Church,
Archbishop Stephen of Ohrid and Macedonia, also volunteered to
share in the prayer service at San Paolo alla Regola. He
emphasized that he had come to pray together with the Bulgarian
brothers, following the behest of Sts Cyril and Methodius that
all people who are brothers must be respected.

Borissov described Stephen's appearance as "a harbinger of a
spring in our relations with the Republic of Macedonia." "As
neighbours, we really want them to sign the Declaration on
Goodneighbourliness and we want to help as much as possible for
their fast accession to the European Union," the Prime Minister
said. Asked whether he met with Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola
 Gruevski at the Vatican on Saturday, Borissov said: "I didn't,
now any meeting, whether with him or with [Macedonian opposition
 leader] Zoran Zaev (even though we talked by telephone with
him) may be interpreted as interference and may be used in their
 domestic struggle. I don't want us to interfere in this
conflict. I hope that the Macedonian people and its politicians
will be wise and hold elections the way they are held in
Bulgaria and then calm down. I'm saying this in the best sense
of the word."

Later in the day, the official Bulgarian delegation paid homage
to the relics of St Constantine Cyril the Philosopher at Rome's
Basilica of San Clemente. Metropolitan Antonii officiated at a
prayer service. The ceremony was attended by diplomats,
clergymen, representatives of the Bulgarian Orthodox community
and pupils of Bulgarian schools in Europe. Also attending were
representatives of registered religious denominations in
Bulgaria: Prof. Rupen Krikorian, Chairman of the National
Council of Religious Communities in Bulgaria and of the Diocesan
 Council of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Pastor Nikolai
Nedelchev, Chairman of the Bulgarian Evangelical Alliance,
Deputy Chief Mufti Birali Birali, Central Israelite Religious
Council President Sofia Cohen, and Father Petko Vulov of the
Catholic Church in Bulgaria.

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Rome's Casa del Cinema (Villa Borghese) will host the 8th
Bulgarian Film Festival between May 25 and 31, 2015. The even is
 organized by the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Rome with the
support of Bulgaria's Ministry of Culture and the National Film
Centre, the Institute said on Sunday.

This year's edition of the festival is dedicated to the
centenary of Bulgarian cinema. The programme includes some of
the most interesting movies made last year, such as Stephan
Komandarev's latest work, "The Judgment", and "The Petrov File",
 directed by Georgi Balabanov.