The Cathedral of the Dormition ( bg, Катедрала Успение Богородично ), also called Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a Catholic church of Bulgarian (Byzantine) rite that is the mother church of the

Bulgarian Greek Catholic Eparchy of Sofia The Bulgarian Eparchy of Saint John XXIII of Sofia is the fourth, so far last and sole jurisdiction, covering Bulgaria, of the Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church (Eastern Catholic, using the Byzantine Rite in Bulgarian language). Its cathedral epi ...

, located in the city of

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 ...

, in

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 ...

. The church was built in 1924 in order to meet the religious needs of

Eastern rite Catholics 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 th ...

in Sofia. The construction of the church had been possible thanks to the efforts of Monsignor Vikenti Peev, the bishop of the diocese of Sofia and Plovdiv and personal donations sent by

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

s Benedict XV and Pius XI. On 17 September 1922, the first stone was laid. The church was designed by an architect named Heinrich as the first concrete church in Sofia. The church was completed on 27 August 1924 in what was then the outskirts of the city. In 2002 the cathedral was visited by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

during his apostolic travel to Bulgaria.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dormition Cathedral, Church Eastern Catholic cathedrals in Bulgaria Cathedrals in Sofia Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church Eastern Catholic Churches

See also

References