Great "Roncalli" Day In Sofia
Greetings
Thank you to everyone who has been offering prayers for this pilgrimage. They were very much felt today as we had a fabulous day - so much like the days we first met Monsignor Capovilla and Ivan Bastoni on the first pilgrimage in 2009.
Let me begin by saying that Catholics make up just 1% of the population in Bulgaria so they are very much a huge minority in the country. The majority of that 1% of Catholics are of the Eastern rite. Ivan Bastoni, personal secretary to Monsignor Capovilla before his passing in 2016, connected us with a good friend of monsignor's - his name is Bogdan Patashev. Bogdan is very knowledgeable about the time of Angelo Roncalli in Bulgaria and was able to take us to multiple sites today in Sofia that were significant to Roncalli during his time here from 1925-1934.
We were able to visit the site of the home in which Roncalli lived when he arrived here in this poor country in 1925. There was a church next to his small home as well. We all know that Roncalli was not a man of possessions or someone who desired "high class" stuff but I do recall in reading about his time in Sofia that he mentioned that this first residence was very dark and did not offer much in the way of comforts. This home and church were both destroyed by the communists when they took over control of Bulgaria after WWII. After communism fell in 1989, the archdiocese repurchased the land and built a new church and rectory on the same site. I have included a picture of a picture that shows the original home and church back 1925.
We visited his second residence in which lived from the years 1926-1932. It too had a small church next to it. Both are now under the auspices of an order of Carmelite priests. One of the priests was kind enough to show us around both the rectory and the church. It was really neat in that there is a picture of then Bishop Roncalli standing on the steps of the rectory with some guests and we were able to take a picture in the same spot - literally walking right there in the footsteps of St. John XXIII. This residence is located on Roncalli street. There are pictures at the bottom of the blog.
We visited the third and final residence he had during his time in Sofia. It may have been the highlight of the day as this residence still exists today and is home to the Apostolic Nuncio of the Holy See to Bulgaria - Anselmo Guido Pecorari. Bogdan was able to arrange a meeting for us with the Apostolic Nuncio. He was very, very cordial and kind to us. He was fond of talking about Monsignor Roncalli's time in Bulgaria and shared with us some great pictures from that time as well. We have a picture of this residence at the end of the blog as well. It is picture with both Jane and me in it.
Our final stop of the day was to a site of land of which Roncalli purchased when he was Bishop in Bulgaria with the intent of starting a seminary on the site. He was not able to get this accomplished before his departure from Bulgaria in 1934 and then the land was also occupied by the Communists after the second world war. In a real twist of irony the Communists actually built two large buildings behind the site that Bogdan said were used for training KGB spies. The buildings now sit desolate. The church reclaimed control of the land after the fall of communism in 1989 and a religious order of nuns, The Sisters of the Eucharist, established a convent there. The sisters were given by Monsignor Roncalli his personal chapel while he was bishop in Sofia and it is now a part of their convent chapel. It is a beautiful, simple chapel. A picture is at the bottom of the blog
In2002 after Roncalli had been granted the title of "Blessed" by Pope John Paul II, the nuns wanted to build a church on the grounds in memory of Roncalli. The exterior of the church is finished and is beautiful. The interior was being worked on while we were there today. It was fascinating to watch painters working on the huge frescoes on the walls. I have included a picture at the bottom of Bogdan, Sr. Maximilian (nun who gave us tour of the convent and church) and me.
Lots of great pictures I hope to be able to share in some forum when I return as there were many, many side stories with so many of the pictures.
Tomorrow we travel to Istanbul where he was Apostolic Delegate from 1934-1944, right in the midst of WWII. Most of our weekend is structured with walking tours of Istanbul. We do have an appointment with the Apostolic Nuncio's office at 10 AM on Monday. My hope is that they will be able to give us a tour of Istanbul similar to what Bogdan did today in Sofia.
Jane and I are both very grateful for the efforts made to day by Bogdan. He was a trooper taking us all over Sofia, arranging meetings with people and getting us access to sites that are not open on a normal basis. Thank you again to everyone offering prayers as they were very much answered today.
As has been the case feel free to go to Jane's facebook page to view more pictures of the day.
https://www.facebook.com/jane.weisenbach
God bless and will speak with you tomorrow from Turkey!
Thank you to everyone who has been offering prayers for this pilgrimage. They were very much felt today as we had a fabulous day - so much like the days we first met Monsignor Capovilla and Ivan Bastoni on the first pilgrimage in 2009.
Let me begin by saying that Catholics make up just 1% of the population in Bulgaria so they are very much a huge minority in the country. The majority of that 1% of Catholics are of the Eastern rite. Ivan Bastoni, personal secretary to Monsignor Capovilla before his passing in 2016, connected us with a good friend of monsignor's - his name is Bogdan Patashev. Bogdan is very knowledgeable about the time of Angelo Roncalli in Bulgaria and was able to take us to multiple sites today in Sofia that were significant to Roncalli during his time here from 1925-1934.
We were able to visit the site of the home in which Roncalli lived when he arrived here in this poor country in 1925. There was a church next to his small home as well. We all know that Roncalli was not a man of possessions or someone who desired "high class" stuff but I do recall in reading about his time in Sofia that he mentioned that this first residence was very dark and did not offer much in the way of comforts. This home and church were both destroyed by the communists when they took over control of Bulgaria after WWII. After communism fell in 1989, the archdiocese repurchased the land and built a new church and rectory on the same site. I have included a picture of a picture that shows the original home and church back 1925.
We visited his second residence in which lived from the years 1926-1932. It too had a small church next to it. Both are now under the auspices of an order of Carmelite priests. One of the priests was kind enough to show us around both the rectory and the church. It was really neat in that there is a picture of then Bishop Roncalli standing on the steps of the rectory with some guests and we were able to take a picture in the same spot - literally walking right there in the footsteps of St. John XXIII. This residence is located on Roncalli street. There are pictures at the bottom of the blog.
We visited the third and final residence he had during his time in Sofia. It may have been the highlight of the day as this residence still exists today and is home to the Apostolic Nuncio of the Holy See to Bulgaria - Anselmo Guido Pecorari. Bogdan was able to arrange a meeting for us with the Apostolic Nuncio. He was very, very cordial and kind to us. He was fond of talking about Monsignor Roncalli's time in Bulgaria and shared with us some great pictures from that time as well. We have a picture of this residence at the end of the blog as well. It is picture with both Jane and me in it.
Our final stop of the day was to a site of land of which Roncalli purchased when he was Bishop in Bulgaria with the intent of starting a seminary on the site. He was not able to get this accomplished before his departure from Bulgaria in 1934 and then the land was also occupied by the Communists after the second world war. In a real twist of irony the Communists actually built two large buildings behind the site that Bogdan said were used for training KGB spies. The buildings now sit desolate. The church reclaimed control of the land after the fall of communism in 1989 and a religious order of nuns, The Sisters of the Eucharist, established a convent there. The sisters were given by Monsignor Roncalli his personal chapel while he was bishop in Sofia and it is now a part of their convent chapel. It is a beautiful, simple chapel. A picture is at the bottom of the blog
In2002 after Roncalli had been granted the title of "Blessed" by Pope John Paul II, the nuns wanted to build a church on the grounds in memory of Roncalli. The exterior of the church is finished and is beautiful. The interior was being worked on while we were there today. It was fascinating to watch painters working on the huge frescoes on the walls. I have included a picture at the bottom of Bogdan, Sr. Maximilian (nun who gave us tour of the convent and church) and me.
Lots of great pictures I hope to be able to share in some forum when I return as there were many, many side stories with so many of the pictures.
Tomorrow we travel to Istanbul where he was Apostolic Delegate from 1934-1944, right in the midst of WWII. Most of our weekend is structured with walking tours of Istanbul. We do have an appointment with the Apostolic Nuncio's office at 10 AM on Monday. My hope is that they will be able to give us a tour of Istanbul similar to what Bogdan did today in Sofia.
Jane and I are both very grateful for the efforts made to day by Bogdan. He was a trooper taking us all over Sofia, arranging meetings with people and getting us access to sites that are not open on a normal basis. Thank you again to everyone offering prayers as they were very much answered today.
As has been the case feel free to go to Jane's facebook page to view more pictures of the day.
https://www.facebook.com/jane.weisenbach
God bless and will speak with you tomorrow from Turkey!
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