A jubilee scientific conference on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the arrival in Bulgaria of Archbishop Angelo Roncalli, the future Pope John XXIII, was held today at the “Prof. Marin Drinov” Hall of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
The event on “Monsignor Roncalli and his Apostolic Mission in Bulgaria (1925-1934)” was opened by the President of BAS, Corr. Memb. Evelina Slavcheva. “With this forum in memory and glorification of one of the most outstanding and influential religious leaders of the twentieth century who left a lasting mark in world history with the convening of the Second Vatican Council but also linked his life and name to our country, the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences traditionally pays due tribute to a great and sincere friend of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian people,” Corr. Memb. Slavcheva said.
On behalf of President Rumen Radev and Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov, greetings were read to the organizers, participants and guests of the anniversary conference. The Apostolic Nuncio to Bulgaria and North Macedonia H.E. Msgr. Luciano Suriani and the President of the Episcopal Conference of the Catholic Church in Bulgaria Bishop Petko Valov also addressed greetings.
During the forum, Assoc. Prof. Kiril Kartaloff who is from the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of BAS, the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Milan and is a member of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences presented his book “The Quest for Peace. Celebrating Pacem in Terris and its legacy, sixty years later” edited by Kiril Kartaloff (Edizioni Studium, Roma 2024). The book is the result of the international scientific conference held at BAS in June 2023 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the publication of the “Peace on Earth” (Pacem in Terris) encyclical, published for the first time in Bulgarian, in translation by Assoc. Prof. Kiril Kartaloff, by the “Prof. Marin Drinov” Academic Publishing House of BAS.
The commemoration was to take place on 25 April 2025 – the exact date of his arrival in Sofia in 1925.
