To mark the second anniversary of the Pope’s visit to Bulgaria, Cardinal Ignace Moussa Daoud, Prefect of the Holy See’s Congregation for the Oriental Churches, paid a visit to the country from 20 to 26 May. In Sofia the cardinal blessed a memorial to the Pope’s presence in Bulgaria in the cathedral of Byzantine rite dedicated to the Assumption of Our Lady. He also consecrated the church of St. Andrew at Kalojanovo, near Plovdiv. The foundation stone of this church, like that of the co-cathedral of St. Joseph in Sofia, had been laid by the Holy Father himself during his apostolic journey to Bulgaria in 2002. Cardinal Daoud met the Orthodox Patriarch Maksim and the civil authorities of Bulgaria. He also had meetings with the Orthodox metropolitans Ilarion, Dometian and Kalinik. “We have improved contacts at all levels, both with the Patriarch and with the bishops said the cardinal to SIR, two years after the Pope’s visit -. The Bulgarian Catholic Church must now continue along this road, increasingly pursuing the path of ecumenism, and placing the emphasis on the things that Catholics have in common with the Orthodox”. “Catholics of Byzantine rite are very important in Bulgaria added Cardinal Daoud and it is thanks to their witness that the Church can breath with both her lungs”. On 24 May, national festival of culture, the cardinal took part in a diocesan youth meeting in the diocese of Nicopolis. In the meantime, according to the tradition, on the occasion of this festival, an official delegation of the Bulgarian State composed of politicians, men of culture and journalists was received by the Pope.
