Cyril Of Bulgaria

Patriarch Cyril (, secular name Konstantin Markov Konstantinov, bg, Константин Марков Константинов; January 3, 1901 – March 7, 1971), was the first Patriarch of the restored

Bulgarian Patriarchate The Bulgarian Orthodox Church ( bg, Българска православна църква, translit=Balgarska pravoslavna tsarkva), legally the Patriarchate of Bulgaria ( bg, Българска патриаршия, links=no, translit=Balgarsk ...

. Born in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

to a family of Aromanian descent, he adopted his religious name of Cyril in the St. Nedelya Church on December 30, 1923 and became

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

Plovdiv Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...

in 1938. On May 10, 1953 Cyril was elected List of Patriarchs of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Patriarch of Bulgaria, holding the position until his death. Cyril was buried in the main church of the Bachkovo Monastery, 89 kilometres from Sofia. Cyril's historical role in the Bulgarian popular resistance to the Holocaust is recounted in the oratorio "A Melancholy Beauty", composed by Georgi Andreev with libretto by Scott Cairns and Aryeh Finklestein, first performed in June 2011 in Washington, D.C. The text describes "Metropolitan Kyril" in 1943 confronting the captors of Bulgarian Jews slated to be deported. Kyril first pledges to go with the deportees in solidarity and then tells the guards he will block the train with his own body. The guards reply that they have just received new orders to release the Jews. 1901 births 1971 deaths Clergy from Sofia Eastern Orthodox Righteous Among the Nations Bulgarian Righteous Among the Nations Patriarchs of Bulgaria Bulgarian people of Aromanian descent {{orthodox-clergy-stub