Blessed Eugene Bossilkov

Eugene Bossilkov, CP (born Vincent Bossilkov 16 November 1900 – 11 November 1952) was a Bulgarian Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Nicopolis from 1947 until his execution by Bulgaria's communist regime in 1952. He was a member of the Passionists. Bossilkov studied in Rome for his doctorate at the Pontifical Oriental Institute and became a parish priest in the Danube Valley. After becoming a bishop, he was arrested in 1952 by the Communist regime, together with many other religious leaders, and executed for ostensible crimes against the state. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1998. Vincent Bossilkov was born to a family of Bulgarian Latin Rite Catholics on November 16, 1900, in Belene, Bulgaria. After studies, he entered the Passionist Congregation at the age of 14. The Passionists are an Italian religious institute founded by Saint Paul of the Cross in the eighteenth century. They have practiced in Bulgaria since 1781. Bossilkov studied in Passionist houses in the Netherlands and Belgium and took the religious name Eugene. He professed his vows in 1920 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1926. He had returned to Bulgaria in 1924 and had pursued theological studies. In 1927 he went to Rome to take his doctorate at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, where he wrote a thesis on the Union of Bulgarians with the Holy See during the early 13th century. On his return to Bulgaria, Bossilkov served in various Diocesan offices, but he preferred working with the laity. He took up a post as parish priest in the Danube River valley. Here his reputation for scholarship grew, and he was noted for his work with the youth of the parish. In the wake of World War II, the Soviet Union invaded the Kingdom of Bulgaria and installed a Communist government answering to Joseph Stalin. The new regime began to enact laws to destroy religious institutions and beliefs. At this time, Bossilkov was appointed Bishop of Nicopolis in 1947.