On the night of November 11–12, 1952, Bishop Evgeny Bosilkov and Catholic priests Kamen Vichev, Pavel Dzhidzhov and Yossafat Shishkov were executed by firing squad at Sofia Central Prison. The four were sentenced in the so-called Catholic trial, held in the People’s Republic of Bulgaria against clergy and laypeople from the Catholic Church.
According to data published by the Bulgarian News Agency, the court case began on September 29, 1952, in Sofia. There were 40 defendants – 27 priests, 12 laypeople and one nun. The prosecution accused them of creating a “spy and conspiratorial Catholic organization in Bulgaria” that operated in the interests of the Vatican and foreign intelligence services. The wording formed part of the political framework of the trial and reflected the prosecution’s case at the time.
Four Death Sentences
On October 3, the Supreme Court handed down the sentences. Bishop Evgeny Bosilkov, Kamen Vichev, Pavel Dzhidzhov and Yossafat Shishkov were sentenced to death by firing squad and the complete confiscation of their property. The other 36 defendants received prison sentences ranging from one to 20 years, also with confiscation of their property.
The execution was carried out at 23:30 on November 11, 1952. The four were buried in an unknown mass grave. Later, the Catholic Church identified them as victims of communist repression. In his homily at Bosilkov’s beatification, Pope John Paul II called him “one of the many victims offered by atheistic communism in Bulgaria and elsewhere.”
From the Sentences to Beatification
Evgeny Bosilkov was beatified on March 15, 1998, at the Vatican. Four years later, on May 26, 2002, during his visit to Bulgaria, Pope John Paul II also beatified the three priests – Kamen Vichev, Pavel Dzhidzhov and Yossafat Shishkov. The solemn Mass was celebrated in Plovdiv.
The four are commemorated on November 13 – the day designated by the Catholic Church for honoring their martyrdom. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that, following amendments to the Political and Civil Rehabilitation of Persons Subjected to Repression Act, those sentenced in the major Catholic trial of 1952 were rehabilitated. The law covers people who were illegally persecuted because of their political beliefs or religious convictions between September 9, 1944, and November 10, 1989.
Thus, the trial, which began with accusations of espionage and conspiracy, remains in history both as one of the harshest blows against the Catholic Church in Bulgaria and as a case in which those sentenced were later honored as blessed martyrs.
Sources: utroruse.com, archivioradiovaticana.va, archives.bnr.bg