Archbishop Methodius Stratiev AA (

secular name A legal name is the name that identifies a person for legal, administrative and other official purposes. A person's legal birth name generally is the name of the person that was given for the purpose of Civil registry, registration of the birth an ...

Nikola Dimitrov Stratiev) (1916 - 2006) was a Bulgarian Catholic priest, an

Augustinian 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 ...

monk (AA), Titular Archbishop, former Exarch of Sofia Exarchate and political prisoner during the trials against Catholic priests in Bulgaria.

Early life and education

He was born on 11 January 1916 in the village of

Srem Syrmia ( sh, Srem/Срем or sh, Srijem/Сријем, label=none) is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is divided between Serbia and Croatia. Most of the region is flat, with the ex ...

. In his native village he completed primary education, then from 1928 to 1931 was still in high school at

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 ...

. He then studied 5 years in the French College "Saint Augustine" 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 ...

. On 6 October 1936 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 ...

to do the monastic community of Augustine-Assumptionist Fathers. On 21 November 1936 beginning novitiate receives robe and new monastic name of Methodius. Both studied at the Seminary for foreign missions Nozeroa. In the period 1937-1942 he studied philosophy and theology at the Catholic Institute in Paris, which is a branch of the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

. On 26 July 1942 he was ordained an Augustine priest by Bishop Pius Neve, AA (1877–1946).

Career

At the end of July 1943, Father Methodius returned to Bulgaria. Became rector of the Ecclesiastical Saint Joseph college and taught French literature in Saint Augustine college in

. Develops active journalistic work in the Bulgarian Catholic press. On 18 May 1946 he was moved by the bishop to St. Cyril and Methodius parish in Yambol, where he became parish priest. However, it is trusted of the pension of the Augustino-Assumptionist Fathers Fathers in the city to him. On 11 July 1952, after the evening, Divine Liturgy invaded Yambol church militia and civilian agents of State Security and arrested Father Methodius. With handcuffed and tied his eyes, he was taken immediately to

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 ...

. After days of beatings, daily interrogations, bunker, physical torture and psychological harassment, the judicial farce, played by the People's Court from 29 September to 3 October 1952 Father Methodius Stratiev was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment and total confiscation of property. Jail in Pleven, Belene camp, Pazardzhik Prison, careers and Ognyanovo Samovodenskata quarry. In his work, Father Methodius reduced his sentence from 14 to 11 years and was released in 1963. On 28 April 1963 he was nominated for bishop coadjutor of Exarchate of Sofia and Titular Bishop of Diocletianopolis in Thracia.catholic-hierarchy.org
/ref> It was not until 5 September 1965 was consecrated bishop by Exarch Cyril Kurtev. After the death of Bishop Kurtev Bishop Methodius managed Apostolic Exarchate of Sofia from 9 March 1971 to 5 September 1995, when

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 ...

accepted his resignation. On 18 December 1993 he was nominated Archbishop ad personam.

Death

On 12 May 2006, after a short illness, he died at 21:54. Funeral service took place on 14 May 2006 by Exarch

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 ...

in the presence of Bishop Gheorghi Ivanov Jovcev and Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza at the Cathedral of Assumption in Sofia. He was buried the same day in the Catholic plots in Central Sofia Cemetery.

References

External links

Archbishop Metodi Dimitrov Stratiev, A.A. †
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stratiev, Methodius Bulgarian Eastern Catholic bishops Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church Roman Catholic titular archbishops People from Haskovo Province 1916 births 2006 deaths Augustinian bishops 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Bulgaria Eastern Catholic bishops in Bulgaria