Roman Catholic Diocese of Sofia and Plovdiv

The Diocese of Sofia and Plovdiv ( Latin: Dioecesis Sophiae et Philippopolis ) is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Bulgaria. The diocese is directly subordinate to the Holy See.

It is next to the Diocese of Nicopolis the only Catholic diocese in Bulgaria. The Catholic population comprises about 0.7 % of the total population. The greater part of the Christians in Bulgaria belongs to the Orthodox Church.

Current bishop since 1995 Georgi Jowtschew. The bishop's seat is located in Plovdiv. Meanwhile, a cathedral was built in the center of Sofia.

History

1758 the Vicariate Apostolic of Sofia and Plovdiv was built in Bulgaria. On March 3, 1979, was raised to the bishopric.

Bishops

• Giuseppe Roverani (1758-1767)
• Georgius Angelus Radovani (1767-1771)
• Pavel Duvanlija (1771-1776)
• Georgius Tunø (1802-1817)
• Andreas Tunø (1817-1834)
• Andrea Canova OFM Cap (1843-1866)
• Francesco Domenico Raynaud OFM Cap (1867-1885)
• Roberto Menini OFM Cap (1885-1916)
• Cleto Vincenzo Pejov OFM Cap (1916-1941)
• Ivan Romanov (1942-1959)
• Bogdan Stefanov Dobranow (1975-1983)
• Georgi Ivanov Jowtschew (since 1988)