The Gospel will be read in both Bulgarian and Turkish in the southern Bulgarian cities of Plovdiv and Kardzhali for the Orthodox Easter service.

Plovdiv Bishop Nikolay is going to follow the lead of the Kardzhali priest Petar Garena, who has been reading the Gospel on Easter in both Bulgarian and Turkish for years, BGNES reported.

Father Petar Garena has prepared a special transcription in Turkish of certain passages of the Gospel, which will be used by the Plovdiv Bishop Nikolay during the Easter service.

The Kurdzhali region has a large Muslim Turkish population which also attends some Orthodox Christian holidays. The presence of the Muslim Mayor of Kardzhali, Hasan Azis, during the Christian service is taken for granted.

The Kardzhali priest Petar Garena became famous in 2009 when during a visit of the Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev, Garena told him that he was a "dude".

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