site.btaMay 26, 2002: Pope John Paul II Beatifies Three Bulgarian Catholic Priests Executed by Communist Regime

Twenty four years ago on Tuesday, at an open-air mass in the central square of Plovdiv, this country's second biggest city (South Central Bulgaria), Pope John Paul II beatified Kamen Vichev, Pavel Djidjov and Yosafat Shishkov, three Bulgarian Catholic Assumptionist priests who were executed by firing squad on November 12, 1952 by the communist authorities together with the Blessed Bishop Eugene Bossilkov.

Petar (Kamen) Vichev was born in the village of Srem near Burgas (Southeastern Bulgaria) on May 23, 1993, to an Orthodox Christian family, according to the Holy See website. On September 8, 1910, he began his novitiate with the Augustinians of the Assumption in Gemp and received the name Kamen. In 1912 he began his ecclesiastical education in Louvain, Belgium, where he studied until the summer of 1918. Then he was appointed lecturer at the St Augustine College in Plovdiv, and later at the Little Seminary of Koum Kapou in Constantinople (Istanbul). It was there on December 22, 1921, that he was ordained a priest of the Eastern Rite. After obtaining his doctorate in theology at the University of Strasbourg, in 1930 he went back to Bulgaria and was appointed lecturer at the St Augustine College in Plovdiv. He was often asked to give lectures on topics related to youth and social life. He wrote articles for the Istina (Truth) Catholic newspaper and the Byzantine Studies magazine. 

On July 4,1952, he was arrested by the communist authorities on charges of leading a Catholic conspiracy against the security of the state, the Eugene Bossilkov – Belene Cultural Centre website says. There was no news of him until September 20, 1952, when newspapers published the indictment against 40 people, accused of spying in favour of the French secret services and the Vatican. Father Kamen was listed as the leader of the conspiracy.

Joseph (Pavel) Djidjov was born in Plovdiv on July 19, 1919, to a Catholic family, the Vatican website says. In 1926, he enrolled at the St Andrew Primary School of the Assumptionists in Plovdiv. From 1931 to 1938, he studied at the St Augustine College in Plovdiv. On October 2, 1938, he entered the Assumptionist novitiate of Nozeroy, Jura, France, where he took the name of Pavel. He studied philosophy and theology near Paris, until 1942. Due to illness, he was forced to return to Bulgaria, but continued his education. He was ordained a priest of the Latin Rite at the Cathedral of Plovdiv on January 26, 1945. He moved to Varna, on the Black Sea, where he taught and continued his studies in economics and social sciences. He was appointed treasurer of the St Augustine College and stayed there until the College was closed in 1948.

Father Pavel was a very active student with great influence over his fellow students. He never hid his anti-Communist views and was therefore closely watched by the secret service agents of the new government, the Eugene Bossilkov – Belene Cultural Centre website says. In 1949 he was made treasurer and procurator of the Bulgarian Assumptionists, since his superiors trusted him completely. He was constantly under surveillance by the police, and on the night of July 4,1952, he was arrested at the Seminary of the Assumptionists in Plovdiv together with Father Kamen Vichev. Father Pavel Djidjov was second on the list of those charged in the conspiracy case.

Robert (Yosafat) Matey Shishkov was born in Plovdiv on February 9, 1884 to a Catholic family, according to the Vatican's website. In September 1893, Shishkov studied at the minor seminary of the Assumptionists of Kara-Agatch near Adrianople (Edirne). In April 1900, he began his novitiate and was given the name Yosafat. In 1904 his was sent to Louvain, Belgium, where by 1909 he completed his studies in philosophy and theology. On July 11, 1909, at Malines, Belgium, he was ordained priest of the Latin Rite. Back in Bulgaria, during World War I, he taught at the St Augustine College in Plovdiv. He was also superior of St Cyril and St Methodius Seminary in Yambol (Southeastern Bulgaria). He served as parish priest of the Latin parish in Yambol and was chaplain of the Oblate Sisters of the Assumption. Then he returned to Varna, where he remained during World War II and served there until he was arrested in December 1951 by the communist police.

Forty Bulgarian Catholic priests, religious leaders and laymen went on trial at Bulgaria's Supreme Court in Sofia on September 29, 1952. According to the Vatican's website, the defendants were abused and tortured in custody. They were denounced as "members of a spying conspiracy operating in several of the country's cities, preparing an imperialist war against the USSR, Bulgaria and other countries of people's democracy". The verdict, delivered on October 3, 1952, on the eve of the opening of the 19th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party in Moscow, found them "guilty of having organized and directed a clandestine organization, a secret service agency of the Pope and of imperialists, in Bulgaria from September 9, 1944 until the summer of 1952". They were sentenced "to death by a firing squad with disqualification and forfeiture of all their assets to the State". The three priests and Dr Bossilkov were executed at the Sofia Prison at 11:30 p.m. on November 11, 1952.

In July 2010, Bulgaria's National Assembly formally rehabilitated all who had been sentenced by the communist courts, including the Catholic clergymen.

On May 26, 2002 - the last day of a four-day Apostolic journey to Bulgaria - Pope John Paul II officiated Mass in Plovdiv's central square. Worshippers started flocking to the site at 5 a.m. The first queues formed a few hours later. It took security a couple of minutes to check each person entering the square through the checkpoints.

The first to arrive in the square were a group of children led by Catholic priests of the Sofia-Plovdiv Diocese, who later received Holy Communion. The Pontiff personally administered the sacrament to some 350 children of the Municipality of Rakovski and the Sofia-Plovdiv Diocese.

The 324 chrysanthemums that decorated the stage from which Pope John II said Mass were planted afterwards in parks in downtown Plovdiv. Next to the stage stood the Vatican's coat of arms made of flowers. A wreath of white roses adorned a unique replica of the Bachkovo Miracle-Working Icon of Virgin Mary, a gift from Plovdiv to the Pope, which remained on the stage during Mass.

BTA's English Service covered the visit extensively, and among the numerous news stories is this item on the Solemn Mass in Plovdiv on May 26:

"Pope John Paul II Celebrates Solemn Mass in Bulgarian in Plovdiv

Sofia, May 26 (BTA) - Pope John Paul II beatified Kamen Vichev, Pavel Djidjov and Yosofat Shishkov, three Bulgarian Catholic Assumptionist priests who were executed by firing squad on November 12, 1952, by the communist authorities together with the blessed Bishop Eugene Bossilkov, at an open-air solemn mass in Plovdiv's central square.   

The mass was attended by more than 10,000 worshippers from Bulgaria and abroad.

The Head of the Roman Catholic Church served the three-hour solemn mass on Most Holy Trinity Sunday together with the Cardinals accompanying him and bishops and Catholic priests from Bulgaria and abroad.

Pope John Paul II was welcomed with psalms performed by the choir of the St Ludwig Cathedral in Plovdiv. 350 children dressed in white received their first communion from the Holy Father.

The Pope served mass from a special podium resembling the inside of a church of an area of 340 square meters. The Cardinals were on the first level of the podium and the second, on which there was a pulpit, an altar and a gilded throne, was reserved for the Head of the Roman Catholic Church. 

The first and only replica of the miracle-working Mother of God icon, sanctified at the Bachkovo Monastery, which is the Plovdiv City Council's gift to the Pope, was also placed at the altar.

A wooden 3.5 m tall cross with the Vatican's emblem was mounted above the stage. There was also a sign reading 'I Shall Follow Thy Light'.

Pope John Paul II was dressed in a special gown made by his Plovdiv hosts. According to tradition, the Pope leaves the vestments in which he has celebrated Mass with his hosts as a souvenir of his visit. After the Holy Father's departure, the gown will be placed in a special glass-case at the Catholic Cathedral in Plovdiv.

The central square in Plovdiv was decorated with the state emblem of the Vatican made of flowers and coloured stones. The podium from which the Pope served Mass was decorated by 324 chrysanthemums.

Before going to the square on the Popemobile, the Pope visited the building of Plovdiv's City Council where he signed the Guests of Honour Book.

On his way, children welcomed the Holy Father chanting 'We Want the Pope!'  

Addressing Pope John Paul II, Bishop Georgi Yovchev of the Sofia-Plovdiv Diocese described his visit as a 'historic moment at the turn of the millennium'.

'Plovdiv is an ancient city in which martyrs of the Christian faith have died in the name of God in the first centuries after Christ's birth,' Bishop Georgi Yovchev said.

Metropolitan Arseniy of Plovdiv welcomed the Holy Father with Apostle Paul's words to the Christians in the city of Corinth:

'The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.' 

He went on to say that the Holy Father is now standing on holy land in the ancient city of Plovdiv on which apostles have preached in the first century after Christ's birth and on which scores of martyrs of the Christian faith have spilled their blood.

Metropolitan Arseniy finished his address with the words that 'all Christians should remember that they should be of one heart and the soul to glorify God through Jesus Christ, our Lord'. VINF/EK/ND"

Earlier, BTA External Service reported the act by which the Pope beatified the three Bulgarian priests"

"Pope John Paul II Signs Decree on the Beatification of Three Bulgarian Priests

Sofia, April 26 (BTA) - Pope John Paul II has signed a decree three days ago on the beatification of three Bulgarian priests, said Bishop Christo Proykov, Apostolic Exarch for the Diocese of Sofia of the Catholic Church in Bulgaria. The beatification will be announced officially during Pope John Paul II's visit to Bulgaria, May 23 through 26.

Priests Kamen Vichev, Yosafat Shishkov and Pavel Djidjov were sentenced to death and executed in 1952 together with Bishop Eugene Bossilkov, who was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1998.

A monument to Kamen Vichev was built near the Catholic Cathedral in Plovdiv several years ago.

Bishop Proykov also said that the construction of two new Catholic churches has started in Sofia. A cathedral of the Sofia-Plovdiv Bishopric will be built on the site of a Gothic church destroyed during World War II. However, remains of Roman times were found when the terrain was being cleared, which will probably delay construction work. The other church, dedicated to Pope John XXIII, will be built near the Pope John Paul II Medical Centre on Madrid Blvd. TEAM/HG"