Cathedral of St Joseph, Sofia

The Cathedral of St. Joseph ( Bulg Катедрален храм Свети Йосиф ) in the Bulgarian capital Sofia 's co-cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sofia and Plovdiv. It was built in the years 2002 to 2006.

History

From 1875 onwards a neo-Baroque church for the numerous Catholic immigrants from Western, Central and Southern Europe was built on the site of the present cathedral. The congregation grew and built various educational programs, a hospital and a school.

During the bombing of Sofia, 1944, the St. Joseph's Church was completely destroyed. In the communist era, a reconstruction was not possible. The Catholic congregation gathered in a nearby hall for worship.

In 2002, Pope John Paul II blessed during his visit to Bulgaria the cornerstone for the new St. Joseph 's Church with meeting center, the Co-Cathedral of the Diocese of Sofia - Plovdiv built in 1979, after their ordination by Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano in 2006.

Architecture

The Joseph Cathedral is a wide and bright hall church on a rectangular plan with a gable roof and a slender bell tower. It follows on from forms of Italian Renaissance churches. The central piece of equipment is a seven -meter-high wooden crucifix on the altar wall.