The Cathedral of St Joseph () is a

Latin Catholic The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 ''sui iuris'' churches in full communion w ...

cathedral in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

, the capital of

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. It is the

co-cathedral A co-cathedral is a cathedral church which shares the function of being a bishop's seat, or ''cathedra'', with another cathedral, often in another city (usually a former see, anchor city of the metropolitan area or the civil capital). Instances o ...

of the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Diocese of Sofia and Plovdiv, together with the Cathedral of St Louis in

Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...

. The cathedral, rebuilt at its previous location after it was destroyed by Allied bombing raids during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, was inaugurated on 21 May 2006 in the presence of

Cardinal Secretary of State The Secretary of State of His Holiness (; ), also known as the Cardinal Secretary of State or the Vatican Secretary of State, presides over the Secretariat of State of the Holy See, the oldest and most important dicastery of the Roman Curia. Th ...

Angelo Sodano Angelo Raffaele Sodano (23 November 1927 – 27 May 2022) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the Dean of the College of Cardinals from 2005 to 2019 and previously as the Cardinal Secretary of State from 1991 to 2006; S ...

Dean of the College of Cardinals The dean of the College of Cardinals () presides over the College of Cardinals in the Catholic Church, serving as ('first among equals'). The position was established in the 12th century. He always holds the rank of a cardinal bishop and is as ...

. The foundation stone of the new cathedral was laid personally by

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

during his visit to Bulgaria in 2002. "Saint Joseph" is the largest Catholic cathedral in Bulgaria has 350 seats and can hold up to 1,000 worshipers. The cathedral is 23 metres long, 15 metres wide is, is 19 metres high main body of the building with a roof height of 23 metres and the tower is equipped with four electronically operated bells, is 33 metres high. The cathedral is equipped with body and over the altar stands 7 meter wooden cross of Christ. Under cross is the icon of Mary (mother of Jesus), given by Patriarch Maxim at the dedication of the temple. On both sides of presbytery are two statues, the patron of St. Joseph Cathedral and Capuchin patron St. Francis of Assisi. On the right side of the entrance is the icon of God's Mercy with the inscription: "Jesus, I trust to thee." This icon is linked to the devotion to the Divine Mercy and the coming of Jesus into the world Faustina Kowalska. At the entrance is the statue of the Mary (mother of Jesus) in Lourdes in 1858 appeared to St. Bernadette Subiru to be declared as a pure conception. On the other side of the gate of the cathedral are the statues of some of the most popular saints in the Catholic Church - St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Carmelite barefoot and St Anton from Padua Franciscan. To the fence of the cathedral is a statue of

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

, which was consecrated by Pope John Paul II during his visit in 2002 in the parish. Holy Mass services: Saturday 6 pm - Bulgarian; Sunday 9 am - Polish; Sunday 10:30 am - Bulgarian; Sunday 12 pm - English; Sunday 6 pm - Bulgarian;

Gallery

File:Cathedral of St Joseph Sofia old.jpg, The cathedral as it appeared in the late 19th century File:Cathedral st joseph sofia-1-2.jpg, The altar File:Cathedral st joseph sofia-2.JPG, The balcony

References

* * {{Bulgaria-church-stub 21st-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Bulgaria Roman Catholic churches completed in 2006 Roman Catholic cathedrals in Bulgaria Roman Catholic churches in Bulgaria

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

Gallery

See also

References