The Pope in Plovdiv

Sunday morning at 8:00, the Papal group left Sofia by car from the Apostolic Nunziatura for Plovdiv. They arrived here prompty at 9.40 a.m in front of Plovdiv's Municipal building, where the Pope was welcomed by Plovdiv mayor Ivan Chomakov, then proceeded to the newly-constructed Sancristy in the Central Square.

The region around the square was closed twenty- four hours before the beginning of the mass. Everyone wanting to attend the mass was checked by scanners placed around the square. Cell phones were silenced during the official three-hour mass out of fear that the ringing of GSM phones could embarrass the Holy Father and cause confusion, according to the National Service Protection Agency.

At 10:30 Pope John Paul II recited the ANGELUS DOMINIONS Mass and address a crowd in excess of 10-thousand who were on hand to greet him. Bulgarian National Television (Channel One) was the only television authorized to broadcast the mass and the video was relayed live on televisions all over the world.

The platform from which The Holy Father celebrated the mass was made especially for this occasion. The platform is over 9 meters high, the base is 26 meters by13 meters. The 340 sq. meter covering is made of 22,000 elements. There has never been created such construction, in size, complexity and dead-line -- it is unique.

At the front of the memorial are two engraved plaques

For Father Kamen Vichev, executed on 11.11.1952
Plovdiv 11.11.2000

In sacred service died for the Christian belief throughout the communist regime
1944-1989

Pope John Paul II had signed a decree to beatify and declare three Bulgarian Catholic priests as martyrs. The three were executed by communists in 1952. The pontiff officially announced the beatifications - the last step before raising someone to sainthood - during his visit to Plovdiv. The three include Father Kamen Vitchev born in 1893. The best known of the three, he was a teacher, a scholar, and a leader. When he was arrested in December of 1951, he was Vicar Provincial for the Assumptionists in Bulgaria. He had been a teacher at the Assumptionist seminary in Istanbul and for a much longer time at the College of Saint Augustine in Plovdiv. In Bulgaria he became widely known as an effective teacher and preacher of the faith and very active in inter-Church activities. He published regularly in the Assumptionist journal of Eastern theological studies called “Echos d’Orient” and fostered friendly relations with the Orthodox clergy in Plovdiv, who were often guests of the community. Undoubtedly his published thoughts on the merits of a Christian vision of the world as opposed to the dominant atheist and materialist doctrines did not make him a favorite of the regime. He was passionate about the cause of unity between the Eastern and Latin churches. He had been ordained a priest in the Byzantine rite.

A monument to Father Vichev, shown in the photo at the left, was erected on 11 November, 2000 in a garden on Boulevard Maria-Luiza.

At 1:30 in the afternoon, His Eminence arrived at the Bishop's Palace of Plovdiv, shown in the photo to the right of the Cathedral of St. Ludwig of the French (on Boulevard Maria-Luiza) for lunch with the Catholic Bishops of Bulgaria, Illustrious Hosts and members of the Papal Continuation.

At 5:00 P.M. Pope John Paul II held a meeting with the youth in the Cathedral of St. Ludwig of the French and addressed the group. While physically weak, the Pope seemed increasingly alert at the event. He ad-libbed in Polish, clearly enjoyed the laughter and singing and tapped his hand to the music.