FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Pope Francis' first trip to Europe was precisely in Albania on September 21, 2014. He was welcomed at the airport by Prime Minister Edi Rama and representatives of the Catholic Church.
11 years ago, Pope Francis accepted the invitation of Albanian authorities and the Catholic Church to visit Albania, with the aim of strengthening the faith of the Catholic community and encouraging interfaith dialogue in a Muslim-majority country.
"Mother Teresa is a great daughter of these lands. Peace in your homes!", Pope Francis prayed in Tirana on September 21, 2014.
On his first visit to Europe, from Mother Teresa Square, among other things, the Pope addressed the Albanians with the words: "I came to encourage you to grow hope within and among you. I hope that the eagle you have on your flag will always hold hope in God who does not disappoint and stands by you in difficult moments."
He left a message in the guestbook where he wrote: "To the noble Albanian people, thanks and gratitude for their testimony and for the brotherhood to move forward in peace."
As rarely before, hundreds of thousands of believers, Christians and Muslims, had filled the central boulevard of Tirana, to welcome Pope Francis. Riding in the open car brought by the Vatican, he traveled the entire boulevard of Tirana, greeting all the believers not only from Albania, but also from Kosovo, Montenegro, Italy, Switzerland and the USA who had arrived in our country for the Pope's visit.
Pope Bergoglio came to Albania 21 years after Pope John Paul II, who, on April 25, 1993, restored the hierarchy of the Catholic Church after emerging from the terrible years of atheist-communist persecution.
As soon as he arrived, on September 21, 2014, Pope Bergoglio was amazed by the young people, who welcomed him with extraordinary love, as Federico Lombardi, the Pope's own spokesman at the time, had declared. They followed him everywhere, from the airport to the Presidency of Albania, from Mother Teresa Square to the Catholic University; from the Cathedral Church of St. Paul to the Betania Center. Along with the young people, other sights and people: religious leaders, authorities and leaders of society, the eagle, the martyrs, the embrace with two survivors of communism, Don Ernest Simoni (Troshani), now a cardinal, and Sister Maria Kaleta. And then, the children of the Betania Center.
Religions and religious leaders
Pope Francis' words were quite clear from the very first speech to the authorities, at the presidential palace. "No one - said the Holy Father - should think that they can use God as a shield, while planning and committing acts of violence! No one should use religion as a pretext for acts against human dignity and human rights". And, later, during the meeting with religious leaders at the Catholic University, he added: "To kill in the name of God is a great sin!". Albania, he repeated several times, "proves that coexistence is possible".
Coexistence and dialogue, he explained to the religious leaders, require two attitudes: "Let us see every man and every woman as a brother and sister" and let us work with dedication "for the common good". Because "the more we are at the service of others, the more free we are!" And the Holy Father invited to meet "the needs of the poor". Words that echoed those of the authorities: "The globalization of markets must be met by the globalization of solidarity".
While at the Betania Center, he underlined: "Goodness rewards you infinitely more than money, which disappoints." Words, extremely important for the homeland of the eagles, increasingly threatened by relativism and individualism, even today, after 6 years, as the local bishops constantly denounce, who often point out old and new evils: corruption, social imbalance, attacks on the institution of the family...
The eagle and the youth
However, not everything is “black”. Not for a country that has the eagle on its flag. This eagle, Pope Francis suggested during the Mass in Mother Teresa Square, “reminds you of hope”. It “does not forget its nest, but flies high. Fly high! Climb high!” you too, the Holy Father told the Albanians. During the Angelus prayer, the Pope addressed young people in particular: “They say that Albania is the youngest country in Europe, that is why I am addressing you. You are the new generation, the new generation of Albania, the future of the homeland. Learn to say ‘no’ to the idolatry of money, ‘no’ to false individualistic freedom, ‘no’ to addictions and violence; on the contrary, say ‘yes’ to the culture of encounter and solidarity. In this way, you will build a better Albania”. The Pope urged young people to learn from the example of the martyrs.
Martyrs and survivors
Martyrs! Many more than the first 40, whose faces filled Tirana's main street, the "Martyrs of the Nation" Boulevard. "Albania - said Francis during the mass in Mother Teresa Square - is a land of martyrs: many have paid with their lives for their loyalty. There has been no shortage of tests of great courage and coherence in the witness of faith". Don Ernesti and Sister Maria knew this well, who told the Pope their story of persecution, before the evening prayers in the cathedral of the capital. The tears of the Holy Father, immediately after their testimony, also touched the hearts of those present, but not only that. Pope Francis put aside the written word and spoke without paper. "This people - he affirmed - has its martyrs alive in their memory". And, addressing the two survivors: "Forgive me for using you as an example today, but we all have to be examples for each other. Let us go home, thinking that we have truly touched martyrs today." A symbolic scene that closed the historic day experienced by Albania, once a symbol of communist atheism and now visited by two Popes.
In 2016, he appointed the first Albanian cardinal in history, Ernest Troshani.
Pope Francis, on November 19, 2016, appointed Father Ernest Simon Troshani with the title of Cardinal. The Pope honored the Albanian priest in a ceremony held to honor 17 clergymen. Father Ernest Simon Troshani was appointed with the motivation “For historical resistance in the communist period”. The Albanian priest has served 18 years in prison under communism. He met the Pope personally in 2004. During the celebration, when the Holy Father presented him with the Cardinal’s ring and hat, he kissed the hand of the new Cardinal Troshani.
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