Pope Francis urged Bulgarians to be more welcoming towards refugees during a visit to Bulgaria on Sunday. At his arrival, the pontiff was greeted by Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borissov starting off his three-day visit to the country and North Macedonia. Borisov welcomed the pope's visit saying "it reflects his interest in the peaceful economic development of the Balkans." The three-day tour will include a visit to a refugee camp in outskirts of Sofia and a commemoration of Mother Teresa — the famous Macedonian nun. "Bulgaria confronts the phenomenon of those seeking to cross its borders in order to flee wars, conflicts or dire poverty, in the attempt to reach the wealthiest areas of Europe, there to find new opportunities in life or simply a safe refuge," the pope said. "To all Bulgarians, who are familiar with the drama of emigration, I respectfully suggest that you not close your eyes, your hearts or your hands — in accordance with your best tradition — to those who knock at your door," he said. The pope also mentioned a "new winter" plaguing Bulgaria in reference to the falling birth rates the country faces. "Bulgaria faces the effects of the emigration in recent decades of over two million of her citizens in search of new opportunities for employment," he said, adding that this had "led to the depopulation and abandonment of many villages and cities". The Orthodox Church has rejected the idea of holding joint prayers with the pontiff.<doc-sep>To improve the performance of our website, show the most relevant news products and targeted advertising, we collect technical impersonal information about you, including through the tools of our partners. You can find a detailed description of how we use your data in our Privacy Policy. For a detailed description of the technologies, please see the Cookie and Automatic Logging Policy. By clicking on the "Accept & Close" button, you provide your explicit consent to the processing of your data to achieve the above goal. You can withdraw your consent using the method specified in the Privacy Policy.<doc-sep>On Sunday, Pope Francis embarked on his 28th journey abroad. Once again, he is in the Balkans. This time, he is visiting North Macedonia and Bulgaria. The Orthodox theologist Bojidar Andonov says Bulgaria is "a poor country, even though it's in the EU; the people here live poor and humble lives." The Balkan state with its 7 million residents is the poorest in the entire bloc. And the EU statistics bureau reports Bulgaria's gross domestic product does not even amount to one-fourth of the EU average. It is the pontiff's 11th trip within Europe. So far, he's only made brief visits to western Europe, for instance to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, the birthplace of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Sweden, the World Council of Churches in Geneva and to Portugal's Fatima pilgrimage site. Pope Francis has focused most of his attention on the continent's poorest countries. He visited Albania in 2014 and Sarajevo in 2015. He will travel to Romania, the EU's second poorest member, in June. The majority of Bulgarians are Orthodox Christians Bulgaria hoping for 'greater attention' "There are hopes that the pope's visit will draw greater attention to our country," Andonov tells DW. Adding that his Bulgarian compatriots admire the pope's compassion for the weakest members of society. The pope is a role model for many people in Bulgaria in terms of "his leadership of and service to the church, and also with regard to our metropolitan bishops." With regard to ecumenism — efforts to foster cooperation among different churches — the pope's trip to Bulgaria and North Macedonia is a delicate issue, as the majority of people in both countries are Orthodox Christians. Indeed, US media cited the vice director of the US bishops' Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs as saying that the pope may need to be particularly careful and navigate many potential "minefields." Ordinary Bulgarians in good spirits Several weeks ahead of the pontiff's visit, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church announced it would not participate in services and prayers with the pope. Patriarch Neophyte and members of the Holy Synod, the country's Orthodox leadership, have said they will meet the pope, albeit not wearing liturgical garments. Andonov is not concerned by this. He says he traveled through Bulgaria during the Orthodox Easter celebrations and found that Bulgarians are in good spirits. He believes they will "be watching the pope's entire visit on television" and argues that unlike ordinary Bulgarians, the metropolitan bishops at the head of the Orthodox Church still need to get used to the idea of interreligious dialogue in the context of democracy. Pope Francis will celebrate first communion with Catholic children in Rakovski, Bulgaria Pope Francis' visit to the country follows a familiar pattern made up of political discussions and a speech in a public square as well as a trip to a refugee camp in the capital, Sofia. He will also join children in the majority-Catholic town of Rakovski to celebrate their first communion. In memory of Mother Teresa The pope will spend Tuesday, the last leg of his Balkan trip, in North Macedonia. Here, he will visit the Memorial House of Mother Teresa in the capital, Skopje. Mother Teresa was born in 1910 in Skopje, which then belonged to the Ottoman Empire. She became known all over the world for her humanitarian activism on behalf of the poor in Kolkata, India, and for founding the Missionaries of Charity congregation. In 1979, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She died in 1997. In 2016, Pope Francis declared her a saint. Although fewer than 1% of the people of North Macedonia are Catholic, Mother Teresa remains the country's most famous compatriot.<doc-sep>
Pope Francis has urged Bulgarians to open their hearts and homes to migrants, arguing that a country like Bulgaria, which is losing its population to emigration, should well understand the forces that drive people to leave their native lands. Francis made the call upon arrival in Bulgaria on May 5 to meet with members of the country’s small Catholic community and to visit a refugee center outside the capital, Sofia, as part of a trip that will also take him to North Macedonia. Francis has sought to bridge enduring tensions between the Orthodox and Roman Catholic branches of Christianity, including with a landmark February 2016 meeting in Cuba with Patriarch Kirill, the head of Russian Orthodox Church. However, the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church has rejected any possibility of holding joint prayers with the pope. "We would like to emphasize that any form of shared liturgical or prayer service, as well as wearing of liturgical garments, is unacceptable to us as the holy canons do not allow this," the Holy Synod said ahead of Francis's arrival. The Pope plans to tour a refugee center. Francis is also meeting with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, whose center-right, pro-Brussels coalition government includes three nationalist, anti-migrant parties. The government has called for the closure of EU borders to migrants and sealed off its own frontier to Turkey with a barbed-wire fence. Human rights groups and the European Commission have accused Bulgaria of violating EU asylum laws. "I was happy to welcome a man who is the symbol of faith in our world. Pope Francis's prayers for peace are extremely important for our region that stretches from Ukraine to the east to the Western Balkans," Borisov said as he greeted the Pope at the airport. Francis and the Vatican had hoped to hold a joint "prayer for peace" in a Sofia square on May 6. The Orthodox Church will instead send a children's choir to the event, which will be attended by one of Sofia's Muslim leaders. Bulgaria’s is the only Orthodox church that did not choose to participate in a commission looking to improve dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church, which has some 44,000 adherents in Bulgaria. Prime Minister Borisov welcomed Francis's visit, saying it "reflects his interest in the peaceful economic development of the Balkans." Francis will also visit North Macedonia on the three-day trip and attend a commemoration of the late Mother Teresa, who was born Anjeze Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in Skopje in 1910. North Macedonia has an estimated 20,000 Roman Catholic followers. With reporting by AFP, AP, and dpa