On September 21, 2018, Metropolitan of Varna and Veliki Preslav, attended a solemn ritual of taking a military oath from the graduates „Class 2023“ for the Navy and „2024“ at the Higher Naval Academy „Nikola Yonkov Vaptsarov“ in Varna.
Metropolitan John delivered a speech in which he addressed the fleet admiral Prof. Dr. Mednikarov – Head of the Naval Academy, Admiral Flotilla Georgi Penev – Deputy Commander of the Navy, representatives of the academic guides of higher education institutions in the city and to all cursants who had taken a military oath on that day.