Emmanuel Staravero

Emmanuel (Meletius) Staravero (1819-1872) was a Greek bishop of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople since 1840 and since 1861 bishop of the Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church. in a Greek Orthodox family on the island of Leros.

Meletius moves the market day in Lovech from Sunday to Saturday to allow Christians to visit unchallenged church service. So Meletius II leaves very good impressions in his flock and the Bulgarian municipality is calming.

Meletius was moved to Drama. On 21 December 1859, together with Matthew Samokovsky, they were summoned to Constantinople as accused. On January 18, 1860, they were acquitted.

On April 30, 1859, the Serbian Diary published in Novi Sad wrote:

In the early 1860s, the Nevrokop Bulgarians managed to achieve the dismissal of the protosynkellos of the metropolitan - priest Georgi Strandzhalia of Silivria - a fierce fighter against the Bulgarians.

Eastern Catholic Bishop In 1861, Meletius accepted the union with several families, which caused a huge response in the Orthodox Church. On November 21, 1861, he formally converted himself and was ordained as Archbishop of Dramas. On June 30, 1862, he went to Rome.

In 1865, Staravero co-ordained priest Raphael Popov to the episcopate. Together with Benjamin Naples attended the First Vatican Council (1869-1870). He died on 11 September 1872 and was buried in the Unified Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Constantinople.