Kamen Vitchev, Pavel Djidjov and Josaphat Chichkov

The three religious were distinguished by their pastoral dedication, their commitment to youth, and their ecumenical openness in a Bulgaria undergoing profound political change.

Father Josaphat Chichkov first taught at Saint Augustine College in Plovdiv (1914-1919). In July 1929, he was appointed director of the Saints Cyril and Methodius minor seminary in Yambol. This institution had the unique feature of welcoming seminarians of both rites (Latin and Byzantine), and Father Josaphat worked to integrate them harmoniously into a single community. Very open to technical progress, he was the first in Yambol to use a typewriter with Cyrillic characters, and he introduced cinema and the gramophone for the education of the youth. He regularly received Mgr Angelo Roncalli (the future Pope John XXIII), then Apostolic Visitor to Bulgaria, who admired his work. In 1937, he became provincial superior in Varna. In 1948, when foreign priests were expelled by the communist regime, he assumed the role of parish priest of the Latin parish of Varna.

Father Kamen Vitchev was appointed professor of philosophy and theology, as well as prefect of studies, at Saint Augustine College in Plovdiv. A brilliant and esteemed intellectual, he actively collaborated with the journal Byzantine Research and the newspaper Veritas. He worked with passion for the rapprochement between Catholics and Orthodox under the authority of the Roman Pontiff. Shortly before his arrest, he was appointed provincial vicar of the Assumptionist Mission of the East.

Father Pavel Djidjov studied economics and social sciences in Varna after his ordination. He was subsequently appointed bursar of Saint Augustine College in Plovdiv and the Vicariate of the East. In a context of financial harassment and constant police surveillance, he managed the mission's assets with remarkable courage and great peace of soul. He exerted a very positive spiritual influence on the students.

After the Second World War, Bulgaria was integrated into the Soviet bloc. The atheist communist government undertook to liquidate the Catholic Church, which was considered a transmission belt for the Vatican and Western imperialist powers. In February 1949, a law on religious denominations forbade congregations from teaching, publishing, and owning hospitals or seminaries, while confiscating their property.

Arrests soon struck the Assumptionists: - Father Josaphat Chichkov was arrested in December 1951 in Varna. - Fathers Kamen Vitchev and Pavel Djidjov were arrested by the communist militia on the night of July 4, 1952, at the Plovdiv seminary.

Held in solitary confinement, beaten, and tortured, they were forced to live in inhumane conditions. From September 29 to October 3, 1952, they appeared before the Supreme Court of Sofia in a mock Stalinist trial involving forty Catholics (including the Passionist Bishop Eugene Bossilkov). They were accused of conspiracy against the State, high treason, and espionage on behalf of the Vatican and French secret services.

On October 3, 1952, the court pronounced the death sentence. The three Assumptionist priests and Bishop Bossilkov were shot in the courtyard of the Sofia central prison on November 11, 1952, at 11:30 p.m. Their bodies were thrown into a mass grave in the city cemetery and have never been found.

Opening of the cause: The diocesan process for their beatification opened on September 19, 1995.

Decree of martyrdom: On April 23, 2002, Pope John Paul II signed the decree recognizing their martyrdom in odium fidei (in hatred of the faith).

Beatification: They were solemnly beatified by Pope John Paul II on May 26, 2002, in the central square of Plovdiv, during his apostolic journey to Bulgaria.

Liturgical feast: Fixed for November 13 by the decree of beatification.

The martyrdom of Fathers Kamen, Pavel, and Josaphat bears witness to an unwavering faith lived out in daily simplicity and the total gift of self. Their spiritual legacy is condensed in their own writings and words, collected shortly before their arrest. Their martyrdom also takes on a major ecumenical dimension. By uniting in the same sacrifice priests of the Latin rite (Pavel and Josaphat) and the Byzantine-Slavic rite (Kamen), they sealed with their blood the unity of the Church in Bulgaria. During their beatification, John Paul II emphasized that their example of courage in the face of suffering and imprisonment was recognized and respected by all their former students, whether they were Catholic, Orthodox, Jewish, or Muslim.