Answering a question what the attitude of the Bulgarian church should be to the church of North Macedonia, the Bulgarian Patriarch said, in an interview with public service TV BNT, that the Holy Synod has a decision from the end of 2022. “We approved a decision at the council of bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church by force of which they grant autocephalous status to the Orthodox church of North Macedonia. The archbishop of the Orthodox Church of North Macedonia has been included in the diptych which the Bulgarian patriarch mentions during every divine liturgy as head of one of the local churches. At the moment they are an independent church and we have recognized this and we serve together, and that is the church’s way of resolving a problem – admitting our mistake and asking for forgiveness,” Patriarch Daniil said. “From the principle of humanism, we shall side with all people and shall not allow any division into “-philes” and “-phobes”, he said in answer to a question whether he is on the side of Russia in its war against Ukraine.