BTA Exclusive by Hristo Petrov
Rome, May 11

Pope John Paul II received May 11 an official Bulgarian delegation headed by Foreign Minister Solomon Passy. The delegation visited Rome for the observances of the Day of the saint brothers Cyril and Methodius.

Solomon Passy emerged from the meeting impressed by the Pontiff's energy. "What impressed me most was his enthusiasm for his visit to Bulgaria. He studies Bulgarian language and will address the Bulgarian people in their own language. Pope John Paul II is full of energy and enthusiasm."

Passy offered his best wishes for Pope John Paul II's birthday wishing him also a solution to the crisis with the Bethlehem church.

The Vatican offered to donate to Bulgaria the Church of San Vincenzo e Anastasio which is located in close proximity to the Fontana di Trevi.

"It is a present for the whole Bulgarian nation. For 20 years we have been hoping for the Pope to visit. I am happy that in the last eight years I was personally involved in the preparation of this historic visit which will help clear the stain from Bulgaria and close an unjust chapter in the modern Bulgarian history," Passy said after the half-hour audience. He was referring to the 1981 attempt on the Pope's life in which Bulgaria was groundlessly implicated.

Having met the Pope, Passy conferred with Vatican State Secretary Angelo Sodano and with Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, Secretary for relations with States at the Vatican Secretariat of State. The sides discussed relations between Bulgaria and the Vatican and the construction of a new catholic church in Sofia.

The delegation also went to the tomb of St Cyril the Philosopher at the San Clemente Basilica, where Metropolitan Kalinik officiated at a liturgy. After that it visited other sites connected with the life and work of Cyril and Methodius.

It is a tradition for a Bulgarian delegation to visit Rome and St Cyril's tomb at San Clemente for May 24, and they have been received by the Pontiff every year since 1975.

In 1993 the delegation was headed by the then parliament speaker Alexander Yordanov, in 1997 by then vice president Todor Bakurdjiev, and two years later by then prime minister Ivan Kostov. Kostov went to San Clemente and paid tribute to St Cyril together with his Macedonian counterpart Ljubco Georgievski.

In May 2000 the then foreign minister Nadezhda Mihailova visited Rome and had a personal audience with John Paul II. Bulgaria's former First Lady Antonina Stoyanova made a trip to Rome for the opening of an exhibition on "The Treasures of Christian Art in Bulgaria."

This year the timing of the trip to Rome was brought forward because of the May 23-26 papal visit, and Passy led a Bulgarian delegation there on May 11.

The first Bulgarian president to have an audience with the Head of the Roman Catholic Church was Zhelyu Zhelev. It happened on December 7, 1995, during Dr Zhelev's visit to Italy. Visiting Rome December 20, 1996, Peter Stoyanov also went to the Vatican and had an audience with the Pope.

Prime Minister Filip Dimitrov and National Assembly Chairman Stefan Savov were received by John Paul II in October and November 1991.

Among the Bulgarian foreign ministers who have been granted an audience by the Pope are Peter Mladenov (December 5, 1988), Lyuben Gotsev (November 5-6, 1990), Viktor Valkov (July 2-5, 1991), and Stoyan Ganev (January 9-11, 1992).