Cathedral of St Joseph, Sofia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Cathedral of St Joseph (Bulgarian: катедрала „Св. Йосиф“) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. It is the co-cathedral of the Diocese of Sofia and Plovdiv, together with the Cathedral of St Louis of France in Plovdiv.

The cathedral, rebuilt at its former location after it was destroyed by the Allied bombing raids during World War II, was inaugurated on 21 May 2006 in the presence of Angelo Cardinal Sodano, Dean of the College of Cardinals and Cardinal Secretary of State of the Roman Catholic Church. The foundation stone of the new cathedral was laid personally by Pope John Paul II during his visit to Bulgaria in 2002.

The Cathedral of St Joseph has 350 seats and is capable of sheltering a total of about 1,000 people. It is 23 m long, 15 m wide and 19 m high, with the belfry reaching 33 m and having four electronic bells.

[edit] References

• "New Catholic cathedral in Sofia", Radio Bulgaria, 2006-05-22. Retrieved on 2006-07-26. (in Bulgarian)
• "Catholics now have their own cathedral in Sofia", Duma, 2006-05-22. Retrieved on 2006-07-26. (in Bulgarian)