Samuel Dzhundrin (26 April 1920 – 19 March 1998) was a

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 ...

Roman Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

, an

Augustinian friar Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

and bishop of

Nikopol, Bulgaria Nikopol ( bg, Никопол ; historically el, Νικόπολις, Nikópolis, la, Nicopolis, tr, Niğbolu) is a town in northern Bulgaria, the administrative center of Nikopol Municipality, part of Pleven Province, on the right bank of ...

Early life

Dzhundrin was born in what is now the town of Rakovski. After the fourth section, he was sent to study in the

Yambol Yambol ( bg, Ямбол ) is a town in Southeastern Bulgaria and administrative centre of Yambol Province. It lies on both banks of the Tundzha river in the historical region of Thrace. It is occasionally spelled ''Jambol''. Yambol is the admi ...

seminary, from 1931 to 1934. After finishing school, he joined the Plovdiv

Seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

. In 1939, he went to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and spent a year completing his

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

under the Augustino-Assumptionist Fathers in the city of

Nozeroy Nozeroy () is a commune in the Jura department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Jura department The following is a list of the 494 communes of the Jura department of France. The commu ...

. From 1940 to 1944 he studied philosophy and theology. For health reasons, he moved to and continued his education in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, where he received his priestly ordination on 4 June 1944.

Career

In 1947 he returned to Bulgaria to teach in St. Augustine college in

Plovdiv Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...

. The government liquidated the college in 1948, causing him to move to

Northern Bulgaria Northern Bulgaria ( bg, Северна България, Severna Bylgarija), also called Moesia ( bg, Мизия, ''Mizija'') is the northern half of Bulgaria, located to the north of the main ridge of the Balkan Mountains which conventionally sep ...

with Father Chonkov Assen. Bishop

Eugene Bossilkov Eugene Bossilkov, born Vincent Bossilkov (b. 16 Nov 1900-11 Nov 1952), was a member of the Passionist Congregation, Roman Catholic bishop of Nicopolis and martyr in the Communist campaign in Bulgaria against religion. He had studied in Rome for ...

appointed him

parish priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of the villages Bardarski Geran and Bregare. Father Assen was put on trial in 1952 and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Father Dzhundrin returned to Plovdiv with him. Assen served his sentence in camps at

Belene Belene ( bg, Белене ) is a town in Pleven Province, Northern Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Belene Municipality. The town is situated on the right bank of the Danube river, close to the town of Svishtov. Ge ...

and

Stara Zagora Stara Zagora ( bg, Стара Загора, ) is the sixth-largest city in Bulgaria, and the administrative capital of the homonymous Stara Zagora Province. Name The name comes from the Slavic root ''star'' ("old") and the name of the medieva ...

, and left in 1961. In Plovdiv, Samuel found that there was no spiritual work available. Thanks to a former acquaintance, he was accommodated in the village of Kaloyanovo as assistant parish priest. There, on 14 December 1978, he received the papal appointment to

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of Diocese of Nikopol. He was ordained on 27 May 1979 in

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...

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 ...

, with

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

s Duraysami Lourdusami Simon and Eduardo Martinez Somaly. For 15 years he managed the diocese, until he retired in 1994 due to health issues. He lived for a year with his fellow-Augustino Assumptionist Fathers, then returned to the Diocese of Nikopol, and finally again to Plovdiv. He died suddenly on 19 March 1998.

References

* *

External links

Catholic Hierarchy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dzhundrin, Samuel Augustinian bishops 1998 deaths 1920 births 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Bulgaria People from Rakovski