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Posted by N on May 14, 2002, 10:06:27 BTA Pope John Paul II to Celebrate Mass in Bulgarian in Plovdiv. Sofia, May 10 (BTA) - Pope John Paul II, who will undertake an apostolic journey to Bulgaria from April 23 through 26, will celebrate Mass in Plovdiv (South Central Bulgaria) in Bulgarian, said the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Bulgaria. The Holy Father will deliver his sermons and addresses to the Bulgarian people in Bulgarian. The schedule of the papal visit was formally unveiled at a news conference Friday. The Pontiff will be welcomed at a ceremony in Sveti Alexander Nevsky Square in central Sofia on the evening of May 23. The official welcoming ceremony for the Sovereign of the State of Vatican City will be hosted by President Georgi Purvanov in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on the morning of May 24. Then the Pope will visit the St Alexander Nevsky Patriarchal Memorial Cathedral on the occasion of the Feast Day of Sts Cyril and Methodius and will lay wreaths at the saints' monument in front of the National Library. The Head of the Roman Catholic Church will pay a visit on Patriarch Maksim of Bulgaria at the Holy Synod Headquarters, and will meet with representatives of the Jewish community and with distinguished scientists and artists at the National Palace of Culture. On May 25, the Holy Father will visit the Rila Monastery (Southwestern Bulgaria), where he will have a private meeting with Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. After that he will meet with Chief Mufti Selim Mehmed and representatives of the Muslim community and with dignitaries of the Evangelical churches, and will visit the two Catholic cathedrals in Sofia: the St Joseph's Concathedral (Western Rite) and the Exarchal Cathedral of the Assumption (Byzantine Rite). The Holy Father is expected to consecrate the foundation stone of a new St Joseph's Church which will be built on the site of a church that was destroyed in the Allied air raids on Sofia in 1944, said Father Blagovest Vangelov, General Vicar of the Assumption Church. On May 26 Pope John Paul II will celebrate an open-air Mass in Plovdiv's central square, at which he will beatify Kamen Vichev, Pavel Djidjov and Yosafat Shishkov, the three Catholic priests who were executed by firing squad on November 12, 1952 together with the Blessed Bishop Evgenii Bossilkov. Nearly 40 bishops and 100 priests have declared willingness to concelebrate the pontifical Mass which will be attended by some 30,000 of Bulgaria's 100,000 Catholics. After Mass, the Pope will have lunch with the Catholic bishops of Bulgaria and is scheduled to meet with young Catholics in the afternoon. On the same day the Holy Father will leave the country. Asked whether the Catholic Church is upset by the Holy Synod's reaction to the papal visit, Father Stefan Manolov of Plovdiv said this was a natural reaction of the spiritual leaders of the traditional religious denomination in every country, which is why negotiations are held before each ponitifical visit. In these negotiations, it is emphasized that the apostolic journey will not stir a commotion among believers. The Catholic Church representatives stressed that Pope John Paul II visits the countries where there are Catholics but his visits so far have never been followed by a mass conversion of Eastern Orthodox Christians into Catholics. The Pope will be accompanied by his retinue, about a dozen cardinals, some six personal security guards, and about 60-70 official guests. In Sofia, he will put up at the Apostolic Nunciature, and the officials will be accommodated at the SAS Radisson and Hilton Sofia hotels. A large number of French and Italian priests, leading groups of pilgrims, are expected to arrive in Bulgaria. The Latin (Western)-Rite Dioceses of Sofia and Plovdiv and of Nikopol and Rousse will present the Holy Father with rose oil and a carpet featuring the Chiprovtsi Virgin, respectively, and the Bulgarian (Byzantine)-Rite Catholic Exarchate of Sofia will offer the distinguished guest an icon of Jesus Christ. Pope John Paul II will travel around Bulgaria by helicopter or car, and will use his personal Popemobil for short-distance movements. At each meeting, the Holy Father will be sitting in a special chair, with the most In connection with the papal visit, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Bulgaria is staging an exhibition of documents and photos illustrating the spread of Catholicism in the Bulgarian lands. The exhibition will open at the National Library on May 16.
BULGARIA - PAPAL VISIT - SCHEDULE.
beautiful such chair being reserved for the celebration of Mass.
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