ECUMENISM TO MARK PAPAL VISIT TO BULGARIA

VATICAN CITY, MAY 23, 2002 (VIS) - On May 11 in the Vatican, Pope John Paul II welcomed Bulgaria's foreign minister, Solomon Passy, Metropolitan Kalinik and a delegation from this Balkan nation on the occasion of the Feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius. In his speech, the Pope spoke of his imminent trip to Bulgaria, saying that "while my visit to your country will have a pastoral purpose, that of confirming my Catholic brothers and sisters in their faith, it is also my fervent desire to strengthen the bonds of Christian communion between the Catholic Church and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church."

Bulgaria, a nation of almost 8 million people, is bordered by Romania, Turkey, Greece, Macedonia and Serbia and has 354 kilometers (212 miles) of coastline on the Black Sea. Sofia, the capital, has 1.1 million inhabitants. Bulgarian, Armenian, Greek, Macedonian, Romanian and Turkish are the principal languages of the three main ethnic groups: Bulgarians (87 percent), Turks (9.4) and Gypsies (3.7). Orthodox are 86 percent of the population, Muslims 13 and Catholics, of both Latin and Byzantine rite, are 1 per cent.

There are 80,000 Catholics in Bulgaria in 3 ecclesiastical circumscriptions and 54 parishes, under the pastoral care of 5 bishops, 51 priests and 88 religious. There are 68 catechists and 214 pastoral ministry workers. Archbishop Antonio Mennini is the apostolic nuncio in Bulgaria.

There are two Latin rite dioceses: Nicopoli, and Sofia and Plovdiv. Nicopoli, whose bishop is Msgr. Perko Jordanov Christov, O.F.M.Conv., has 30,000 Catholics. There are 7 seminarians and in 2001 there were 108 baptisms. The bishop of the diocese of Sofia and Plovdiv, which has 35,000 Catholics in 16 parishes, is Msgr.Gheorghi Ivanov Jovcev. There are 4 seminarians. In the year 2000 there were 276 baptisms.

There are 15,000 Catholics in the 20 parishes of the apostolic exarchate for Bulgarians of the Byzantine-Slavic rite. The apostolic exarch is Bishop Christo Proykov. There are 3 seminarians and last year there were 60 baptisms.

The Orthodox in Bulgaria number 8 million: there are 2,000 ecclesiastics and over 120 monasteries. His Holiness, Patriarch Maxim Marin Naidenov Minkov, was elected in 1971 as the head of the Orthodox Church in Bulgaria.

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