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Diocese immediately subject to the Holy See Sofia–Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Diocese of Sofia–Plovdiv

Sophiae et Philippopolis

Latin Church

The Diocese of Sofia-Plovdiv is a Latin Catholic diocese covering southern Bulgaria, promoted to a diocese in 1979 from an apostolic vicariate and immediately subject to the Holy See. Its cathedral is St. Louis of France in Plovdiv, with a co-cathedral of St. Joseph in Sofia.

On the map

Esri
Sofia–Plovdiv, Bulgaria, drawn to the town rather than to the door: the register holds no verified address for its cathedral.

Every see on one map: browse the dioceses. Churches with recorded hours: find Mass times.

Established
1979
Catholics
33,000
Priests
22
Territory
80,000 km²

Parishes and churches

23 listed churches in our records. Open a parish for Mass times, confession, directions and sources where recorded.

This is our recorded coverage, not an official diocesan parish count. Confirm service times with the parish before travelling.

The bishop

Bishop
Rumen Ivanov Stanev
Born
19 August 1973
Birthplace
Kaloyanovo

Explore the ministry of the bishop.

The cathedral

Cathedral of St. Louis of France, Plovdiv stands in Sofia–Plovdiv, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.

Its co-cathedral is Cathedral of St. Joseph, Sofia.

On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.

History

Southern Bulgaria in its entirety belongs to the Latin Diocese of Sofia and Plovdiv (Latin: Diœcesis Sophiae et Philippopolis); the rest of the country falls within the Diocese of Nicopoli. The diocese is exempt, immediately subject to the Holy See and part of no ecclesiastical province. Its episcopal seat is the Cathedral of St Louis in Plovdiv, joined by a newer co-cathedral in Sofia, the Cathedral of St. Joseph, consecrated on May 21, 2006 by Cardinal Angelo Sodano; Pope John Paul II had symbolically begun its construction during his 2002 visit to Sofia.