Pope

After a tightly-packed three-day programme, Pope Francis left Bulgaria on Tuesday morning with a call for the country to continue "building peace and bridges" with its neighbours.

"Keep building peace, sow goodness," the pontiff told Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, who saw him off as he departed for North Macedonia for the next leg of his Balkan trip.

Prime Minister Boyko Borisov will send Pope Francis to Sofia Airport today (7 May), which marks the end of the apostolic journey of the Holy Father in Bulgaria.

From Sofia, the head of the Roman Catholic Church goes to Skopje.

The meeting between Pope Francis and the Catholic community in Bulgaria began. It is held in the neighborhood of Sekirovo in Rakovski - in the church "St. Archangel Michael". Thousands have arrived today in the small town to see the Holy Father during his apostolic visit to Bulgaria.

Pope Francis's apostolic journey to Bulgaria continues today. The head of the Roman Catholic Church arrived yesterday in Bulgaria, under the motto "Peace to the Earth" - the title of the encyclical, written in 1963 by Pope John XXIII, also known as the "Bulgarian Pope," Archbishop Angelo Roncalli.

Thank you for your good will and wish you all the good of you and of your fellow countrymen you have left in your homeland. God bless you. Pray for me. "This was what Pope Francis said to the refugees and asylum seekers placed in the center in the Vrajdebna district of Sofia.

Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borissov will meet His Holiness Pope Francis at Sofia Airport on May 5th. The Holy Father arrives in Bulgaria on an apostolic journey that will last until May 7, when he will visit Sofia and the town of Rakovsky, the government press office announced on 3rd of May, reports BNT. 

Rakovsky, the Bulgarian town with the largest population of Roman Catholics per capita in the country, has been preparing for months for Pope Francis visit to Bulgaria, which will take place from 5 to 7 May, 2019, reports BNT. 

The Catholic and the Armenian Church celebrate on Sunday, April 21, the largest Christian holiday of the Resurrection of Christ.

The discrepancy with the Orthodox Christians, for which Easter is a week later, is due to the different calendar. Orthodox follow the Julian calendar, and the Catholics - the Gregorian.

There are about 17 days left to Papa Francis' apostolic journey to Bulgaria.

Pope Francis will arrive on Bulgarian soil at 10:00 on May 5, accompanied by the Secretary of State for the Holy See and the Vatican's top representatives, along with an official Vatican delegation, the Catholic Church said in a statement.

The government approved additional costs of 2019 for the organization and holding of the apostolic journey of His Holiness Pope Francis in Bulgaria on 5-7 May.