Pope John Paul II is to visit Bulgaria for the first time next year. Bulgarian officials hope the visit will put an end to speculation of a Bulgarian connection in an assassination attempt against the Pontiff in 1981.
Mr Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turk who tried to kill the Pope in Rome on May 13, 1981, had said the Soviet KGB and the Bulgarian government of communist leader Mr Todor Zhivkov were behind the attack.
"We have received confirmation from the Pope's apostolic nuncio in Sofia. The visit will take place in the second half of May next year," Foreign Minister Mr Solomon Passy said.
"This visit will help to clear the undeserved blemish from the name of our country about alleged Bulgaria's involvement in the assassination attempt against the Pope," Mr Passy said.
Mr Agca returned to Turkey last year after a pardon from Italy where he served 19 years for shooting the Pope.
At his trial, Mr Agca claimed the KGB had enlisted the Bulgarian secret service to kill the Pope because of the Pontiff's support for the Solidarity union in his Polish homeland, which was threatening Moscow's grip on eastern Europe. Later Mr Agca said he had acted alone.
Three Turks and three Bulgarians charged with conspiring with Mr Agca were acquitted for lack of evidence. Since then, the Bulgarian connection has neither been proved nor completely quashed.
Mr Passy said four different Bulgarian heads of state, including Mr Zhivkov and the current President Mr Petar Stoyanov had invited the Pope over the past two decades to make a first visit to the predominantly Orthodox Balkan state.