Awaited also by the Orthodox ” “” “

Great enthusiasm has been aroused among the Bulgarian population by the Pope’s imminent visit to their country. John Paul II will visit Azerbaijan and Bulgaria from 22 to 26 May. It will be his 96th apostolic journey. Recent surveys suggest that the majority of people in Bulgaria not only want this visit, but are eagerly looking forward to it, because they await from it a recognition of their own dignity and their own historic role as a “bridge” between Western and Eastern culture. The majority of the Bulgarian population (85.7%) belong to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The Catholic Church represents only 1% of the population; concentrated especially in the south of the country, it comprises two dioceses of Latin rite and one exarchate of Byzantine rite. In the course of his visit, the Pope will meet the president of the Republic and pay a visit to the patriarchal cathedral of St. Alexander Nevski in the capital on the feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius. ‘apostles of the Slavs’ and patron saints of Europe, who evangelized the country during the ninth century. Also on the programme are meetings with Patriarch Mazim and the Holy Synod, with the Catholic bishops and with the representatives of the Jewish community, which numbers about 5,000. In Sofia the Pope will meet the Grand Muftì and other representatives of the Moslem community who represent 13.1 % of the population, not least due to the presence of a sizeable Turkish minority (9.4%). Meanwhile preparations for the visit are going ahead in Catholic parishes and dioceses: meetings are being organized on the Church, and on the life and work of John Paul II, art exhibitions are being held and books being published on the history of the Catholic Church in Bulgaria, as well as translations of the Catechism and of the papal encyclicals. We sounded out various reactions to the forthcoming papal visit. New strength to a downtrodden faith. “The Pope’s presence will give strength to a faith downtrodden by totalitarianism”. So says Bishop Gheorghi Jovcev of Sofia-Plovdiv, who hopes for a change of heart in a country that is a “bridge between Asia and Europe”. “Here there has been no religious ‘boom’ as in other former Communist countries – he says –. Feelings are not shouted out aloud: faith is personal”. It’s a population impoverished by a bankrupt economy. In Bulgaria no middle class exists. There’s a very rich minority and a majority of poor people. “Small countries like Bulgaria are always sidelined – remarks Bishop Jovcev -, first by the Communists, now by the other countries. Many people are emigrating to Germany and Canada”. The young too, according to Jovcev, could participate more actively in the life of the Church. “The West is giving negative examples – he maintains – and the young, who watch satellite television, are more interested in consumerism than faith. Freedom risks degenerating into licentiousness. However, some are slowly discovering faith”. At the level of ecumenical dialogue he says that “tensions between confessions and religions do not exist in the population. People are tolerant. There are many mixed marriages. The Mass with the Pope will also be attended by our Orthodox and Moslem brothers and by people from the world of culture. Everyone is eagerly awaiting the Pope”. The institutional dialogue is somewhat less developed: “We need to begin from friendship – urges Bishop Jovcev -, first ‘affectionately’, then ‘effectively'”. A “new resurrection”. In the view of Msgr. Christo Proykov, apostolic exarch of Sofia for Catholics of the Byzantine-Slav rite, the Pope’s visit represents “a new resurrection”. “There’s great enthusiasm among the population. After forty years of oppression under Communism – says Proykov –, with numerous martyrs and a marked weakening of the Church, today we feel very encouraged to continue in our fidelity to the Church. For the whole of Bulgaria it’s a blessing and a grace”. During the Pope’s Mass over 300 children will take their first communion, and hundreds of young Catholics have expressed their willingness to help as volunteers in the organization. “The young are our hope – he says –. They did not live under Communism; they don’t know that at one time it was even prohibited to enter churches. They are free from fear; that’s why we hope they may make a contribution to the social and ecclesial life of our country, which saw the whole of the Bulgarian intelligentsia exterminated in 1944. What’s lacking, however, is education in the Catholic faith, which is non-existent in schools”. There’s also “an enormous desire to enter the European Union as soon as possible, not only to receive benefits but also to make our own contribution”. As regards the Orthodox Church, Proykov expressed his confidence that, with the grace of God and with our prayers, the Orthodox Church would be strengthened and sanctified by the Pope’s visit”. The fact that it is ready to receive the Holy Father, comments the exarch, “is in itself a great step forward”. At the grassroots level many Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants are working together and organizing prayer meetings. “We hope that after the Holy Father’s visit, relations between the hierarchies of the various Churches may also improve”, says Msgr. Proykov. The legacy of Pope John. It’s as if he had inherited a little of the spiritual legacy of Pope John XXIII: Bishop Antonio Mennini, apostolic nuncio in Bulgaria, had among his predecessors in the nunciature of Sofia the then Msgr. Angelo Roncalli. “He had an attitude of respect for all believers, including non-Catholics – says Bishop Mennini, who has been in Bulgaria for a year and a half –. He made many gestures of brotherly charity to his Orthodox brothers. During the earthquake of 1928, on the authorization of Pius XII, Msgr. Roncalli distributed the aid of the Holy See to the Orthodox community”. According to Mennini, his illustrious predecessor had a “premonition” of what would become the dialogue between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches, however, laborious: “In the letters he wrote to young Orthodox students who had expressed to him their desire to go to Rome and be converted to Catholicism – he recalls –, Msgr. Roncalli encouraged them to go, but to study as Orthodox and to work within their respective Churches to prepare the future of dialogue and encounter between them”. Pope John also wanted to set up a Bulgarian synod: “who knows whether with time this idea may not be resumed to give greater impetus to the faith?”, says Bishop Mennini. A dialogue that needs to be resumed. The apostolic nuncio describes the Bulgarians as “a good, hard-working, friendly, open and tolerant people”. The “ethnic harmony that the present government is promoting is a model for the Balkans as a whole and this is due to their innate spirit of tolerance”. But no official and theological ecumenical dialogue yet exists. “There is collaboration in the field of charitable work. It is hoped that the Pope’s visit may help to create this dialogue, so that what still divides us may be overcome, as happened in Greece. Who would have imagined that the Holy Father’s visit [to Greece] would have produced such results as the sending of an Orthodox delegation to Rome, with a collaboration not only practical but also theoretical and theological”. The Pope, during his visit, will pay tribute to the Bulgarian monastic tradition and visit the “Bulgarian Jerusalem”, i.e. the monastery of Rila. “It must be said that the Orthodox Church is no less a martyr than the Catholic Church – says Bishop Mennini –; it suffered enormously during the Communist regime, deprived of priests, of seminaries. They were faithful witnesses”. Another aspect on which the Pope’s visit will touch is dialogue with Islam, which “works very well”. “The Grand Mufti Glaven was in Assisi – says Mennini – and is enthusiastic about the visit of the Pope, whom he recognizes as a spiritual guide capable of addressing a message of spiritual renewal to the whole world”. The dream of entering Europe. Msgr. Mennini points out that the aspirations of the Bulgarian people include, not least “the chance of entering Europe with full right, and no longer be kept at the door of this common house of which they have every right to form part. Of course – he suggests – the countries of Eastern Europe would need to be helped in real terms to overcome the economic depression they are going through”. In Bulgaria in fact there’s a prosperous minority. but the majority of people have to survive on very low incomes, in “dignified poverty”. The nuncio also emphasizes that “there are many vocations to the priesthood and this is a good sign. Each year – he adds – a Bulgarian youth congress is held, with the presence of delegates from Italian Catholic Action. It’s important for them to exchange experiences with the European Churches, where the faith is better formed, and has more opportunities”. Italian Passionist missionaries, Polish Franciscans, Czech and Croat Salesians and many men and women religious are also present in Bulgaria. P.C. 16 May 2002