Diocese of Nicopolis Dioecesis Nicopolitanus Епархия Никопол | |
|---|---|
| Catholic | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | Bulgaria |
| Metropolitan | Immediately Subject to the Holy See |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 43,241 km2 (16,695 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics | (as of 2021) 2,500,000[a] 25,000[a] (1%) |
| Parishes | 21[a] |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Latin Rite |
| Established | |
| Cathedral | St Paul of the Cross Cathedral, Rousse |
| Secular priests | 4 plus 9 religious priests[a] |
| Language | Bulgarian |
| Calendar | General Roman |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Bishop | Strahil Kavalenov |
| Website | |
| diocesi-nicopoli | |
The Diocese of Nicopolis[b] (Latin: Dioecesis Nicopolitanus) is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church, which includes the whole northern part of Bulgaria. The seat of the episcopal see is in Rousse, although the diocese is named after Nicopolis ad Istrum. The diocese is immediately subject of the Holy See.
The current bishop is Strahil Kavalenov.[1]
Originally erected in 1789, the diocese has not experienced any name changes, nor jurisdictional alterations.
| Name | Appointed | Term End | Term end reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philippus Stanislaus | 1648 | 1663 | |
| Francesco Sojmirović | 1663 | 1673 | Died |
| Philippus Stanislaus | 1673 | 1674 | Died[c] |
| Anton Stefanov (Stephani), O.F.M. Obs. | 1677 | 1692 | Died |
| Marko Andrijašević (Andreassi) | 1717 | 1723 | Appointed archbishop of Sardica (Sredek, Sofia) |
| Balthasar Lieschi | 1724 | unknown | |
| Nicola Stanislavich, O.F.M. Obs. | 1725 | 1740 | Confirmed bishop of Csanád |
| Antun Becić | 1743 | 1752 | Resigned |
| Nicola Pugliesi | 1752 | 1767 | Appointed archbishop of Dubrovnik (Ragusa) |
| Sebastiano Canepa | 1767 | 1769 | Died |
| Giacomo Antonio Riccardini, O.F.M. Conv. | 1771 | 1775 | Resigned |
| Paul Dovanlia | 1776 | 1804 | Died |
| Francesco Maria Ferreri, C.P. | 1805 | 1814 | Died |
| Fortunato Maria Ercolani, C.P. | 1815 | 1822 | Appointed bishop of Civita Castellana, Orte e Gallese |
| Giuseppe-Maria Molajoni | 1825 | 1847 | Resigned |
| Angelo Parsi | 1847 | 1863 | Died |
| Antonius Jozef Pluym C.P. | 1863 | 1870 | Resigned |
| Ignazio Paoli, C.P. | 1870 | 1883 | Appointed archbishop (personal title) of Bucuresti |
| Ippolito Agosto, C.P. | 1883 | 1893 | Died |
| Henri Doulcet, C.P. | 1895 | 1913 | Resigned |
| Leonardo Baumbach, C.P. | 1913 | 1915 | Died |
| Damiaan Johannes Theelen, C.P. | 1915 | 1946 | Died |
| Blessed Eugene Bossilkov, C.P. | 1947 | 1952 | Died |
| Vasco Séirécov | 1975 | 1977 | Died |
| Samuel Dzhundrin, A.A. | 1978[d] | 1994 | Retired |
| Petko Christov, O.F.M. Conv. | 1994 | 2020 | Died |
| Strahil Kavalenov | 2021 | present |
