site.btaApril 23, 2002: Pope John Paul II Decrees Beatification of Three Bulgarian Catholic Priests

On April 23, 2002, Pope John Paul II decreed the beatification of Kamen Vichev, Yosafat Shishkov, and Pavel Djidjov, Bulgarian Catholic priests executed by the communist regime in 1952. 

On May 26, 2002, during his visit to Bulgaria, Pope John Paul II held a service for the beatification of the three Bulgarian Catholic priests in Plovdiv's central square. The mass was attended by more than 10,000 worshippers from Bulgaria and abroad.

In July 2010, Bulgaria’s National Assembly formally rehabilitated all who had been sentenced by the communist courts, including the slain clergy.

Petar (Kamen) Vichev was born in the village of Srem, Burgas region, Southern Bulgaria, on May 23, 1993, in an Orthodox Christian family, according to the Holy See website. On September 8, 1910, he began his novitiate with the Augustinians of the Assumption in Gemp and received the name Kamen. In 1912 he began his ecclesiastical education in the town of Louvain, Belgium, where he studied until the summer of 1918. Then he was appointed lecturer at the College St Augustine, in Plovdiv, and later at the Little Seminary of Koum Kapou in Constantinople (Istanbul). It was there on December 22, 1921, that he was ordained a priest of the Eastern Rite. After obtaining his doctorate in theology at the University of Strasbourg, in 1930 he went back to Bulgaria and was appointed lecturer at the College St Augustine, in Plovdiv. He was often asked to give lectures on topics related to youth and social life. He wrote articles for the Istina (Truth) Catholic newspaper and the Byzantine Studies magazine. 

On July 4,1952, he was arrested by the communist authorities on accusations of leading a Catholic conspiracy against the security of the state, the Cultural Center “Eugene Bossilkov – Belene” website says. There was no news of him until September 20, 1952, when newspapers published the indictment against 40 people, accused of spying in favor of the French secret services and the Vatican. Father Kamen was listed as the leader of the conspiracy.

Joseph (Pavel) Djidjov was born in Plovdiv on July 19, 1919, into a Catholic family, the Vatican’s website says. In 1926, he became a student at the St. Andrew primary school of the Assumptionists in Plovdiv. From 1931 to 1938, he studied at the Plovdiv College of St. Augustine. On October 2, 1938, he entered the Assumptionist novitiate of Nozeroy, Jura, France, where he took the name of Pavel. He studied philosophy and theology near Paris, until 1942. Due to illness, he was forced to return to Bulgaria, but continued his education. He was ordained a priest for the Latin Rite on January 26, 1945 in the Cathedral of Plovdiv. He moved to Varna, on the Black Sea, where he taught and continued his studies in economics and social sciences. He was made treasurer of the College of St Augustine and stayed there until the college was closed in 1948.

Father Pavel was a very active student with great influence over his fellow students. He never hid his anti-Communist views and was therefore closely watched by the secret service agents of the new government, the Cultural Center “Eugene Bossilkov – Belene” website says. In 1949 he was made treasurer and procurator of the Bulgarian Assumptionists, since his superiors trusted him completely. He was constantly under surveillance by the police and on the night of July 4,1952, he was arrested at the Seminary of the Assumptionists in Plovdiv together with Father Kamen Vichev. Father Pavel Djidjov was second on the list of accused in the conspiracy case.

Robert (Yosafat) Matey Shishkov was born on February 9, 1884, in Plovdiv, into a Catholic family, according to the Vatican’s website. In September 1893, Shishkov studied at the minor seminary of the Assumptionists of Kara-Agatch near Edirne. In April 1900, he began his novitiate and was given the name Yosafat. In 1904 his was sent to Louvain, Belgium, where by 1909 he completed his studies in philosophy and theology. On July 11, 1909, at Malines, Belgium, he was ordained priest for the Latin Rite. Back in Bulgaria, during World War I, he taught at the College St Augustine, in Plovdiv. He was also superior of St Cyril and St Methodius Seminary in Yambol, Southeastern Bulgaria. He served as parish priest of the Latin parish in Yambol and was chaplain of the Oblate Sisters of the Assumption. Then he returned to Varna where he remained during World War II and served there until he was arrested in December 1951 by the communist police.

The Assumptionists had no news about the fate of their brother for almost a year until his name showed up on the list of 40 conspiracy members, that was published in the newspaper. Father Yosafat Shishkov was accused of being one of the “oldest spies”, the Cultural Center “Eugene Bossilkov – Belene” website says.

The trial of 40 Bulgarian Catholic priests, religious leaders and laymen, began on September 29, 1952 at Bulgaria's Supreme Court in Sofia. According to the Vatican's website, the prisoners were abused and tortured. They were declared "members of a spying conspiracy operating in several of the country's cities, preparing an imperialist war against the USSR, Bulgaria and other countries of people's democracy". The sentence, announced on October 3, 1952, on the eve of the opening of the 19th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party in Moscow, declared them "guilty of having organized and directed in Bulgaria, from September 9, 1944 to the summer of 1952, a clandestine organization, a secret service agency of the Pope and of imperialists". They were sentenced "to death by a firing squad with privation of their rights, confiscation of all their properties in benefit of the State”. The three priests were shot at the Sofia prison on the night between November 11 and 12, 1952.

This is how the BTA English Services reported the news of the priests' beatification on April 26, 2002:

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Pope John Paul II Signs Decree on the Beatification of Three Bulgarian Priests

Sofia, April 26 (BTA) - Pope John Paul II signed a decree three days ago on the beatification of three Bulgarian priests Bishop Hristo Proykov, Apostolic Exarch for the diocese of Sofia of the Catholic Church in Bulgaria. The canonization will be announced officially during Pope John Paul II visit to Bulgaria May 23 through 26.

Monks Kamen Vichev, Yosafat Shishkov and Pavel Djidjov were sentenced to death and executed in 1952 together with Bishop Eugene Bossilkov beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1998.

A monument to Kamen Vichev was built near the Catholic Cathedral in Plovdiv several years ago.

Bishop Proykov also said that the construction of two new Catholic churches has started in Sofia. A cathedral of the Sofia-Plovdiv bishopric will be built on the site of a Gothic temple destroyed during World War II. However, remains of Roman times were found when the terrain was being cleared which will probably delay construction work. The other temple - Pope John XXIII, will be built near the Pope John Paul II medical centre on Madrid Blvd. TEAM/HG