“So many poor families we assist, when we go to visit them, ask us about the Pope and pray for him. They say they are suffering but they say they are certain that the Pope is suffering more than they, and that’s why they pray”, says Capuchin friar Fr. Cristoff, parish priest in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, as reported by the Fides international news agency. “We pray for the Pope during mass says Father Cristoff and we’ve organized prayer vigils. We stress that suffering has a meaning, and has a redemptive value for everyone. The faithful also pray a great deal together with the Orthodox”. The mass media in Bulgaria are devoting a lot of coverage to the Pope’s health and, adds the friar, “continue to recall the attempt on his life. But great attention is always devoted to the Pope”. Catholics in Bulgaria account for less than 1% of the population. The Capuchin friars are heavily involved in youth apostolate: “Communism concludes Fr. Cristoff had blocked the cultural growth of Bulgarian Catholics, who are mainly simple people and often very poor. Today the generation of young adults between the ages of 22 and 25 is the first to have access to university education. We are at their side and follow them in their process of human and spiritual growth”. The Capuchins have been present in Bulgaria for 160 years and also suffered persecution during the years of Communism.
