Bulgarian Orthodox Patriarch Neophyte, first elected post-communist leader, dies at 78 following a long illness.

Bulgaria's Orthodox Christian patriarch, Patriarch Neophyte, has died at the age of 78 after a long illness. He was the first elected head of the Orthodox Church in the post-communist Balkan country and had been hospitalized with lung disease for four months. Neophyte was the church's leader for 11 years, succeeding his predecessor Maxim who led the church during the transition period from communism to democracy.