The Bulgarian Eparchy of Saint John XXIII of Sofia is the fourth, so far last and sole jurisdiction, covering

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

, of the

Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church The Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church ( bg, Църква на съединените с Рим българи; la, Ecclesiae Graecae Catholico Bulgarica), sometimes called, in reference to its Byzantine Rite, the Bulgarian Byzantine Catholic ...

(

Eastern Catholic The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of t ...

, using the

Byzantine Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, identifies the wide range of cultural, liturgical, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian Church of Constantinople. Th ...

Bulgarian language Bulgarian (, ; bg, label=none, български, bălgarski, ) is an Eastern South Slavic language spoken in Southeastern Europe, primarily in Bulgaria. It is the language of the Bulgarians. Along with the closely related Macedonian la ...

). Its

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

episcopal see is the

Cathedral of the Dormition The Cathedral of the Dormition (russian: Успенский собор , translit = Uspensky sobor), also known as the Assumption Cathedral or Cathedral of the Assumption, is a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos. ...

(Катедрала Успение Богородично Катедрала Успение Богородично), in

's capital

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

, which also has a Latin Catholic diocesan see.

History

It was established in 1926 as Apostolic Exarchate of Sofia, on Bulgarian territory split off from the suppressed

Bulgarian Catholic Apostolic Vicariate of Constantinople The Bulgarian Catholic Apostolic Vicariate of Constantinople (informally Constantinople of the Bulgarians) was the first missionary, pre-diocesan jurisdiction of the Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church ''sui iuris'' (Eastern Catholic of Byzantine ...

and both its daughters

Bulgarian Catholic Apostolic Vicariate of Macedonia The Macedonian Apostolic Vicariate of the Bulgarians ( la, Apostolicus Vicariatus Macedoniaensis Bulgarorum or ''Vicariatus Apostolicus pro Bulgaris Catholicis Macedoniae''), informally ''Macedonia of the Bulgarians'', was one of the missionary, ...

and

Bulgarian Catholic Apostolic Vicariate of Thrace The Bulgarian Catholic Apostolic Vicariate of Tracia (informally Tracia of the Bulgarians) was the second missionary, pre-diocesan jurisdiction of the Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church ''sui iuris'' (Eastern Catholic, Byzantine Rite in Bulgarian ...

(which also covered

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and Macedonia), reuniting the original Balkanic jurisdiction.

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 10,000 Bulgarian (Byzantine Rite) Catholics in 20 parishes with 17 priests (4 diocesan, 13 religious), 42 lay religious (15 brothers, 27 sisters) and 1 seminarian.

Ordinaries

(all Bulgarian Rite) ;''Apostolic Exarchs of Sofia'' * Kiril Kurtev first time (1926.07.31 – 1942 ''see below''),

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Briula (1926.07.31 – death 1971.03.09) * Ivan Garufaloff, Resurrectionists (C.R.) (1942.07.06 – 1951.08.07) * Kyril Stefan Kurteff again (''see above'' 1951.04.27 – death 1971.03.09) * Metodi Dimitrov Stratiev,

Assumptionists The Assumptionists, officialy named the Congregation of the Augustinians of the Assumption ( la, Congregatio Augustinianorum ab Assumptione) abbreviated AA,is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men (priests and b ...

(A.A.) (1971.03.09 – 1995.09.05), Titular Bishop of

Diocletianopolis in Thracia Diocletianopolis ( el, Διοκλητιανούπολις, bg, Диоклецианопол, "Town of Diocletian") was a magnificent Classical Antiquity, ancient Roman Empire, Roman town in the region of Thrace, nowadays the town of Hisarya in Bu ...

(1963.04.28 – death 2006.05.12), also President of Episcopal Conference of Bulgaria (1970 – 1995); succeeded as former

Coadjutor Apostolic Exarch An exarch (; from Ancient Greek ἔξαρχος ''exarchos'', meaning “leader”) was the holder of any of various historical offices, some of them being political or military and others being ecclesiastical. In the late Roman Empire and ea ...

of Sofia of the Bulgarians (Bulgaria) (1963.04.28 – 1971.03.09) *

Christo Proykov Christo Proykov ( bg, Христо Пройков) (born 11 March 1946 in Sofia) is the Bulgarian Greek Catholic Bishop of Sofia. He was ordained a priest on 23 May 1971, then appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Sofia and Titular Bishop of Briula on 1 ...

(1995.09.05 – 2019.10.11), Titular Bishop of Briula (1993.12.18 – ...), also President of Episcopal Conference of Bulgaria (1995 – ...); succeeded as former Coadjutor Apostolic Exarch of Sofia of the Bulgarians (Bulgaria) (1993.12.18 – 1995.09.05). ;''Bishops of Sofia'' *

(2019.10.11) - incumbent

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic, with Google satellite photo - data for all sections; with incumbent bio links

* ttp://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dsoby.html Catholic Hierarchy: Apostolic Exarchate of Sofia (Bulgarian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sofia, Bulgarian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church Apostolic exarchates

Religious organizations established in 1926 Religion is usually defined as a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, tran ...

1926 establishments in Bulgaria Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

Eastern Catholic dioceses in Europe Catholic dioceses in Bulgaria

History

Statistics

Ordinaries

See also

References

Sources and external links