The Cathedral of St Joseph ( bg, катедрала „Св. Йосиф“) is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

cathedral in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

, the capital of

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

. It is the co-cathedral of the Diocese of Sofia and Plovdiv, together with the Cathedral of St Louis in

Plovdiv Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the ...

. The cathedral, rebuilt at its previous location after it was destroyed by Allied bombing raids during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, was inaugurated on 21 May 2006 in the presence of

Cardinal Secretary of State The Secretary of State of His Holiness (Latin: Secretarius Status Sanctitatis Suae, it, Segretario di Stato di Sua Santità), commonly known as the Cardinal Secretary of State, presides over the Holy See's Secretariat of State, which is the ...

Angelo Sodano Angelo Raffaele Sodano, GCC (23 November 1927 – 27 May 2022) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church and from 1991 on a cardinal. He was the Dean of the College of Cardinals from 2005 to 2019 and Cardinal Secretary of State from 1991 ...

Dean of the College of Cardinals The dean of the College of Cardinals ( la, Decanus Collegii Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalium) presides over the College of Cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church, serving as ''primus inter pares'' (first among equals). The position was establi ...

of the Roman Catholic Church. The foundation stone of the new cathedral was laid personally by

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

during his visit to Bulgaria in 2002. "Saint Joseph" is the largest Catholic cathedral in Bulgaria has 350 seats and can hold up to 1,000 worshipers. The cathedral is 23 metres long, 15 metres wide is, is 19 metres high main body of the building with a roof height of 23 metres and the tower is equipped with four electronically operated bells, is 33 metres high. The cathedral is equipped with body and over the altar stands 7 meter wooden cross of Christ. Under cross is the icon of Mary (mother of Jesus), given by Patriarch Maxim at the dedication of the temple. On both sides of presbytery are two statues, the patron of St. Joseph Cathedral and Capuchin patron St. Francis of Assisi. On the right side of the entrance is the icon of God's Mercy with the inscription: "Jesus, I trust to thee." This icon is linked to the devotion to the Divine Mercy and the coming of Jesus into the world Faustina Kowalska. At the entrance is the statue of the Mary (mother of Jesus) in Lourdes in 1858 appeared to St. Bernadette Subiru to be declared as a pure conception. On the other side of the gate of the cathedral are the statues of some of the most popular saints in the Catholic Church - St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Carmelite barefoot and St Anton from Padua Franciscan. To the fence of the cathedral is a statue of Pope John XXIII, which was consecrated by Pope John Paul II during his visit in 2002 in the parish. Holy Mass services: Saturday 6 pm - Bulgarian; Sunday 9 am - Polish; Sunday 10:30 am - Bulgarian; Sunday 12 pm - English; Sunday 6 pm - Bulgarian;

Gallery

File:Cathedral of St Joseph Sofia old.jpg, The cathedral as it appeared in the late 19th century File:Cathedral st joseph sofia-1-2.jpg, The altar File:Cathedral st joseph sofia-2.JPG, The balcony

References

* * St Jo Roman Catholic churches completed in 2006 Roman Catholic churches in Bulgaria Roman Catholic cathedrals in Bulgaria 21st-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Bulgaria {{Bulgaria-church-stub

Gallery

See also

References