Preparations continue for the Pope’s visit to Bulgaria, scheduled from 23 to 26 May, at the end of his visit to Azerbaijan. Young Bulgarian Catholics “have been mobilized for this event”, reported Nikoleta Doumanova, delegate for youth apostolate of the Bulgarian Episcopal Conference, to the 10th Symposium of European bishops which recently ended in Rome. “The programme of the visit explains Nikoleta is still being prepared, but it is certain that we young people will have a meeting all of our own with the Pope on the afternoon of Sunday, 26 May”. The youth apostolate in our country, he says, “received a great impetus from World Youth Day in Rome in 2000. We promoted youth groups in the parishes and are also developing numerous volunteer service projects”. In Bulgaria the Catholics, subdivided between those of the oriental and those of the Latin rite, are still a tiny minority in comparison with the Orthodox majority. Nonetheless, notes Nikoleta, “especially at the youth level, ecumenical relations are good. On the occasion of World Youth Day, for example, I came to Rome with some Orthodox friends who wanted to participate in the meeting with the Pope. Moreover, it’s not rare for our Orthodox friends and brothers to join with us for meetings of spirituality or prayer. And, in the field of social work and welfare, there are many projects we run together. In Bulgaria we have to tackle the emergency of a great deal of poverty and economic difficulty; we cannot divide our forces but must work hand in hand for the development of our country”. According to Nikoleta Doumanova, the Pope’s visit too may be the occasion for consolidating dialogue with the Orthodox community: “The Orthodox Church has long discussed what kind of welcome to reserve for the Pope in Bulgaria. At the end it decided to offer hospitality to him in one of the most important monasteries in the country. It’s a handsome gesture which will undoubtedly consolidate relations between the two communities”. According to the delegate of the Bulgarian youth apostolate, also very important will be “the Pope’s talks with the government authorities because, unfortunately, in our country the Catholic minority is held in little regard. From the Pope’s meetings with the authorities we await greater attention and more significant recognition of the Bulgarian Catholic community by the government and by the institutions”.
