The Bulgarian Orthodox Church has warned of the spread of a deepfake featuring Metropolitan Gabriel

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church issued an official statement warning the public about a doctored video that has appeared online. In this video, artificial intelligence technology was used to falsify the voice and appearance of Metropolitan Gabriel of Lovech in order to mislead users.

According to Orthodox Times, the office of the Lovchan Metropolis has categorically denied the hierarch’s involvement in advertising any medications or commercial services. In a video that was widely circulated on Facebook, the metropolitan’s image was used to promote products that have no connection to the activities of the church or Orthodox doctrine.

Representatives of the diocese emphasized that this content is a malicious fabrication. The Church has called on the faithful to remain vigilant and not to trust such material on the internet. The relevant authorities have already been notified of the incident, and necessary measures are being taken to remove the fraudulent video content from public access.