By CAROLE BRESLIN
In 1694 Paul Francis Danei was born in Ovada, Italy. Pope Benedict XIII gave Paul permission to accept novices to his new penitential order in 1725; the Pope ordained Paul and his brother on June 7, 1727. Pope Benedict XIV approved the rules of this order on May 15, 1741. The character of the order was a combination of the solitary existence of the Carthusians and the active life of the Jesuits focusing on the Passion of Christ.
The order became known as the Passionists. A little more than 200 years later, one of their priests, Eugene Bossilkov, would be executed for his Catholic faith.
On November 16, 1900, a Bulgarian Latin Rite Catholic family living in Belene, Bulgaria, about 50 miles southwest of Bucharest on the Danube River, welcomed Vincent Bossilkov into the world. At the age of 14, Vincent entered the Passionist organization. (The Passionists had been missionaries in Bulgaria since the 1700s.) Vincent studied in both Belgium and Holland.
In 1920, he professed the normal religious vows in addition to the special Passionist vow of keeping in constant memory the Passion of Jesus Christ. At the time of his vows he took the name Eugene.
In 1924, he returned to Bulgaria and pursued theological studies. After two more years of study, he was ordained in 1926 by the Passionist Bishop Damian Theelen. Then in 1927 he went to Rome to complete his doctoral studies at the Pontifical Oriental Institute. He wrote his thesis on “The Union of Bulgarians With the Holy See During the Thirteenth Century.”
Fr. Eugene returned to Bulgaria in 1933 serving as secretary to the bishop and pastor of the cathedral in Bardaski-Gheran. Although he served in various diocesan offices, he preferred working with the laity. Mostly he worked with the parish youth groups by establishing new religious, social, and sports programs.
Through these efforts, he developed his gifts of linguistics, intellect, and oratory. Thus, in 1938 he was invited to speak at the 250th anniversary of the Catholic insurrection against the Turks. Soon there would be another attack on the Church much more devastating.
In 1940 with the advent of World War II, life in Bulgaria greatly changed as the nation joined the Axis powers. Four years later as the German troops retreated, the Soviet Union invaded the country. In their subjection of the Bulgarians, the Soviets severely controlled their military, politics, and ideology as they even tried to control their thinking, with the Catholic Church being a special target of the Soviets.
After Bishop Theelen died in 1946, Fr. Bossilkov was ordained as bishop of Nicopolis in 1947. Just as the new bishop began his assignment, the Communist regime instituted new laws designed to destroy religion in Bulgaria. Under new regulations Bishop Bossilkov had to apply for permission to leave the country.
In 1948, having finally received permission from the government, he went to Rome for his ad limina visit with Pope Pius XII. (These are obligatory visits made to Rome by bishops. Their purpose is not only spiritual, but administrative where the bishop meets with the Pope to give an account of his diocese. He also shows reverence to the Vicar of Christ as the Successor of St. Peter.)
While on this trip to Rome, Fr. Bossilkov also took time to visit his old friends in Belgium and Holland. Perhaps he realized this would be his last time to see them, knowing the challenges he would face when he returned to Bulgaria. Most likely, he bid a sweet but sorrowful farewell to both the Pope and his friends, asking them to pray for him.
Conditions for the Church continued to worsen in 1949. The government expelled the apostolic delegate from the Vatican as it vowed to destroy the Catholic Church and establish its own concept of religion. The Communists confiscated all Church property, expelled all foreign missionaries, and suppressed religious congregations, dispersing their members.
More and more restrictions were placed on Catholics until 1952 ,when the officials arrested all Church leaders. On July 16, 1952, the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Bishop Bossilkov was arrested while vacationing in Sophia. Forty other priests, religious, and laity were also arrested.
In the Sophia prison, the guards mentally and physically tortured the bishop, forcing a confession from him. The headlines of the papers decried his “crimes” on September 20, 1952 and two weeks later a five-day mock trial was held.
Of course, they found Bishop Bossilkov guilty of the charges: “chief of a subversive Catholic spy organization.” Along with the bishop, three Assumptions priests, Kamen Vicev Jonkov, Pavel Dgldgiov, and Josafat Sciskov, and a Capuchin priest, Fortunato Bakalski, were also sentenced to death by firing squad.
During his last visit with friends and family, Bishop Eugene told them, “Don’t worry about me; I have been given God’s grace, and I am going to remain faithful to Christ and to the Church.”
At 11:30 p.m. on November 11, 1952, Bishop Bossilkov was executed. His body was thrown into an unknown mass burial ground. Little was known at the time about the events taking place in Bulgaria because of the Iron Curtain.
However, some scattered reports were making their way to the Vatican. Pope Pius XII wrote in his December 15, 1952 encyclical letter on the Oriental Churches: “Bulgaria . . . where there is a small but flourishing community of Catholics; a nation in which so violent a storm has broken out that the Church has been reduced to a state of profound mourning. Employing their infamous methods of denunciation, ministers of God have been convicted as public criminals.
“Among them, Our venerable brother, Eugene Bossilkov, Bishop of Nicopolis, was condemned to capital punishment, together with three other priests who have worked in the ministry with him. Not a few others are also in prison or in concentration camps. To these may be added the many Catholics punished in so many ways who, thereby, also merit the same triumphant palm and the glory of martyrdom.”
Because of the closed communications with the outside world, news of the bishop’s death was not confirmed until 1975 when a Bulgarian chief of state came to Rome. Pope Paul VI directly asked him what happened to the good bishop and the man replied that he had died in prison 23 years earlier.
Pope St. John Paul II beatified Bishop Eugene Bossilkov on March 15, 1998. His memorial is on November 13.
The Bulgarian Supreme Court of Appeals exonerated Bishop Eugene of all charges, affirming a miscarriage of justice, on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, September 14, 1999.
Dear Blessed Eugene Bossilkov, you have finished the race. As the Church continues to be persecuted in the world today, help us to recognize the evil around us. May we always remember to put on the armor of Christ and remain steadfast until death, the supreme witness of our faith. Amen.
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(Carole Breslin home-schooled her four daughters and served as treasurer of the Michigan Catholic Home Educators for eight years. For over ten years, she was national coordinator for the Marian Catechists, founded by Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ.)
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