Kamen Vitchev, Pavel Djidjov and Josaphat Chichkov, priests and martyrs (+1952)

Biography

Three Bulgarian Assumptionist priests – Kamen Vitchev, Pavel Djidjov and Josaphat Chichkov – were executed by the communist regime for remaining faithful to the Church. Educators, scholars and pastors of the Latin and Eastern rites promoted the training of young people and dialogue between Christians. In 1952 they were arrested, held incommunicado and subjected to a public trial built on false accusations of espionage. Sentenced to death along with Bishop Eugene Bossilkov, they were secretly shot. Their testimony sustained Bulgaria's small Catholic communities through decades of persecution.