Roman Catholic Diocese of Sofia and Plovdiv

Diocese of Sofia and Plovdiv

Diœcesis Sophiae et Philippopolis

Епархия София и Пловдив
Catholic
Location
Country Bulgaria
MetropolitanImmediately subject to the Holy See
Statistics
Area80,000 km2 (31,000 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics
(as of 2014)
Decrease4,935,000
Steady33,000 (Steady0.7%)
Information
DenominationCatholic
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
Established
  • 1601 (Diocese of Sardica)
  • 1642 (Archdiocese of Sardica)
  • 1759 (Vicariate Apostolic of Sofia and Plovdiv)
  • 3 March 1979 (Diocese of Sofia and Plovdiv)
Cathedral
Co-cathedral
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
BishopGheorghi Ivanov Jovcev
Cathedral of St Joseph, Sofia

The Diocese of Sofia and Plovdiv (Latin: Diœcesis Sophiae et Philippopolis) is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church[1][2] which includes the whole southern part of Bulgaria. The remainder of Bulgaria falls within the Diocese of Nicopoli. The diocese is exempt, i.e. immediately subject of the Holy See, not part of any ecclesiastical province.

The seat of the episcopal see is the Cathedral of St Louis is in Plovdiv and there is a new co-cathedral in Sofia — the Cathedral of St. Joseph, consecrated on May 21, 2006 by Cardinal Angelo Sodano. The construction was symbolically started by Pope John Paul II during his visit in Sofia in 2002.

  1. ^ "Diocese of Sofia e Plovdiv" Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved October 7, 2016
  2. ^ "Diocese of Sofia e Plovdiv" GCatholic.org. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved October 7, 2016