From April 30 to May 4, 2023, the Minister General, Friar Carlos TROVARELLI, visited the Provincial Delegation in Bulgaria, a presence of the Province of the Immaculate Mother of God in Poland (Warsaw).
On May 1, jubilee celebrations for Friar Atanazy SULIK were celebrated. This year, Friar Atanazy gives thanks to the Lord for eighty-five years of life, sixty-five years of religious profession and fifty years of service as a missionary. A Mass was celebrated at the Carmelite convent in Sofia, presided over by the Most Reverend Christo PROYKOV, Bishop of St. John XXIII of Sofia (Bulgarian). Others present for the event included the Assistant General for the Foederatio Europae Mediae et Orientalis (FEMO), Friar Tomáš LESŇÁK; the Minister Provincial of the Province of Warsaw, Friar Grzegorz M. BARTOSIK; the Provincial Secretary of the Province of Warsaw, Friar Zbigniew KOPEĆ; the Exactor for the Province of Warsaw, Friar Tomasz KRĘT; and the Guardian of the friary in Istanbul, Friar Michał SABATURA.
The Minister General and the Minister Provincial thanked Friar Atanazy for his testimony of religious and missionary life. They highlighted his generosity towards the community, his love of the Order and his witness of Franciscan life.
After the jubilee celebrations, the bishop, the Minister General and the Minister Provincial, blessed the new video production studio of Radio Ave Maria, which is run by our Conventual Franciscan community in Sofia.
The Minister General, together with the Minister Provincial, visited all the communities in Bulgaria, namely, Sofia, Pleven and Rakovski, where, a few days earlier, the Assistant General had conducted a canonical visitation.
Finally, on May 8, 2023, Friar Piotr STANISŁAWCZYK led a Formation Day under the theme, “How to Handle Problems in the Community.” The event was also an opportunity to deepen and strengthen fraternal relationships.
We thank the Lord God through the Immaculate Conception for these fraternal meetings with our Superiors. They have served to strengthen our bond with the Province and with the Order. May the Immaculate Conception grant our Delegation the graces it needs, and obtain for us the grace of new missionary vocations.
The friars of Bulgaria
