In his traditional Sunday prayer Regina Coeli (Queen of Heaven), this time recited in front of the St. Alexander Nevsky cathedral in Sofia, Pope Francis pointed out that with the words “Christ is risen!” – “Truly, He is risen!”, Orthodox Christians and Catholics in the Bulgarian lands have exchanged good wishes at Passover since ancient times.

Going back to one of his predecessors - Saint John XXIII who lived in Bulgaria from 1925 to 1934 as Monsignor Angelo Roncalli, Pope Francis pointed out that the experience he gained in the Bulgarian lands later prompted Roncalli, by then Pope, to promote the ecumenical dialogue “which received such a notable impulse during the Second Vatican Council”.

In the Queen of Heaven prayer, Pope Francis noted that a little before it he had greeted and embraced his brother Patriarch Neophyte and the metropolitan bishops of the Holy Synod with a desire to demonstrate respect and love of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.