YOUNG CATHOLICS MEET EMOTIONALLY POPE IN PLOVDIV AS VISIT ENDS

Politics | May 26, 2002, Sunday // 00:00

After a meeting and lunch with Catholic bishops, priests and nuns from Bulgaria, guests from the Holy Synod and members of the Pope's retinue, the Pope had a meeting with young members of the Catholic community at St. Ludwig Catholic Church in the city of Plovdiv. That is the last meeting of the Pope in Bulgaria. Each trip of the Pope usually ends with a meeting of the young people. The meeting was very emotional; the young people welcomed the Pope with claps of hands,exclamations, choir songs and the words "Long live the Pope","Holy Father we are with you". "We'll follow you with respect and love," Emilia Petkova from the community of the young catholic members said in her address to the Pope. The young people presented as a gift an icon with the images of Kamen Vichev, Iosafat Shishkov and Pavel Dzhidzhov – the three Bulgarian Catholic clergymen who were beatified by Pope John Paul II during the mass in Plovdiv. With the words "I hug you all with love and I bless you," concluded the address of the Pope to the young people. The Holy Father departs for Rome on Sunday after an official ceremony. "I'm extremely excited to thank you on behalf of the Bulgarian people for everything that you did for Bulgaria," Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Passy said during the departure ceremony. "As our prime minister said with your visit began the new Bulgarian Easter," Passy added. The Pope said in Italian that he hoped that his visit would be a good sign for Bulgaria. The Holy Father again thanked God for the opportunity to visit Bulgaria.
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