Archbishop Michael Mirov (1859 in Topuzlare,

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

– 17 August 1923 in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

) was a Bishop in the

Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church The Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church is a ''sui iuris'' ("autonomous") Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic church based in Bulgaria. As a particular church of the Catholic Church, it is in full communion with the Holy See. The church's ...

. He was born into the

Bulgarian Orthodox Church The Bulgarian Orthodox Church (), legally the Patriarchate of Bulgaria (), is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox jurisdiction based in Bulgaria. It is the first medieval recognised patriarchate outside the Pentarchy and t ...

in the today Bulgarian village of Zornitsa, Burgas Province, then Topuzlare in the

. More after Michael Mirov converted to Catholicism and graduated from

Assumptionist The Assumptionists, formally known as the Congregation of the Augustinians of the Assumption (; abbreviated AA), is a worldwide congregation of Catholic priests and brothers. It is active in many countries. The French branch played a major rol ...

high school in

Edirne Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...

. Mirov studied theology and philosophy at the Major Seminary in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. On 6 January 1883 he was ordained a priest by Bishop

Michael Petkov Mihail Petkov () (24 October 1850 – 27 May 1921) was a Bulgarian Eastern Catholic priest, member of the Uniate movement in the Ottoman Empire. Biography Michael Petkov was born on October 24, 1850, in the city of Edirne and graduated in philo ...

and was appointed to his native village. He opened a school for children and evening classes for adults. In 1888 began the construction of the new church, which was consecrated on 8 September 1891. In 1900 the Church of the Blessed Virgin added a 24-meter tower. Later, Father Mirov built the Church of the Holy Family in the Dovrukli village. In 1907 was elevated to the rank of archbishop. On March 25, 1911, future

Exarch An exarch (; from Ancient Greek ἔξαρχος ''exarchos'') was the holder of any of various historical offices, some of them being political or military and others being ecclesiastical. In the late Roman Empire and early Byzantine Empire, ...

of the

Russian Greek Catholic Church The Russian Greek Catholic Church or Russian Byzantine Catholic Church is a ''sui juris, sui iuris'' (self-governing) Byzantine Rite Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic particular church that is part of the worldwide Catholic Church. Hi ...

Leonid Feodorov Leonid Ivanovich Feodorov (; 4 November 1879 – 7 March 1935) was a Studite hieromonk from the Russian Greek Catholic Church, the first Exarch of the Russian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Russia, and a survivor of the Gulag at Solovki pris ...

received ordination as a

Byzantine Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, is a liturgical rite that is identified with the wide range of cultural, devotional, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Chri ...

priest by the hands of Metropolitan Michael Mirov in

.Arduino, Fabio. "Beato Leonida (Leonid) Federov", Santi e Beati, December 29, 2011
/ref> Died on 17 August 1923.

References

External links

* http://kae-bg.org/?act=content&rec=68 * http://krotov.info/lib_sec/04_g/gol/ovanov_05.htm Bulgarian Eastern Catholic bishops Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church Converts to Eastern Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy Former Bulgarian Orthodox Christians 1859 births 1923 deaths Eastern Catholic bishops in Bulgaria {{Bulgaria-reli-bio-stub