The new co-cathedral of Saint Joseph, built exactly on the site of the old cathedral, which had been destroyed by the bombs during the Second World War, was consecrated in Sofia yesterday. Under the Communist regime, the authorities never gave permission to build a new church and for over 60 years the congregation had celebrated Mass in the theatre hall. The building of the church began on July 2nd 2002. The church can seat 350 people. Solemn Mass was celebrated by the Secretary of State, cardinal Angelo Sodano, and by the three Catholic Bishops of Bulgaria, in front of institutional authorities and leaders of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and Muslim delegates as well: the metropolitan bishop Russe Neofit, the secretary of the Holy Synod, the archimandrite Naum, the vice-mufti Shelom Ali. "Great is our joy today said mgr. Gheorghi Jovcev, bishop of Sofia-Plovdiv because we can befittingly celebrate Mass". "This temple reminds us of our past", said the president of the Bulgarian Bishops Conference, mgr. Hristo Projkov: "Don’t let’s forget those who bore the Cross, our martyrs, because it’s partly due to then that we can feel this joy today". "The new church is a great joy for all Christians", stated the Orthodox metropolitan bishop Neofit, as he handed out an icon of God’s Virgin as a gift. According to the parish priest of the cathedral, father Cristoforo Kujok, "today, Sofia looks like a little Jerusalem: the synagogues, the mosque, the Orthodox Cathedral and the Catholic Cathedral are all within a four-sided square".
