Pope hails Albania’s inter-faith harmony in historic visit

More than 300,000 turn up for open-air mass in Tirana’s Mother Teresa Square. Pope urged Albanians to remember difficult past but to also be hopeful for the future.
TIRANA, Sept. 21 – In a historic visit to Albania, Pope Francis led an open-air mass attended by 300,000 in Tirana’s Mother Teresa Square, praising Albania’s religious harmony as an example for the rest of the world. He also urged Albanians not to forget the crimes of the atheist communist regime and to be hopeful and have faith in a better future.
The Pope had a busy agenda during his 11-hour visit to Albania — the first European trip outside Italy — including meeting with the country’s political and spiritual leaders as well as honoring members of the clergy that suffered under Albania’s former communist regime.
Albanians had prepared a warm welcome. Wherever Pope Francis went, the streets were lined with thousands of people. The capital’s main Nation’s Fallen Boulevard was decorated with Albanian and Vatican flags – as well as giant portraits of 40 Catholic priests who were persecuted or executed under Stalinist dictator Enver Hoxha.
The Pope, welcomed by Prime Minister Edi Rama at the Mother Teresa International airport, met with Albania’s president, Bujar Nishani, as well as representatives of the local civil authorities.
After holding mass Mother Teresa Square, he then had lunch with the bishops of Albania at the apostolic nunciature. He then celebrated vespers that evening in the Cathedral of St. Paul with priests, religious brothers and sisters, seminarians and members of different lay movements from the diocese. Afterward, he met with children from the Bethany Center and representatives from other charitable institutions as a final event to his busy day. The Pope then participated in a farewell ceremony before departing Tirana’s international Mother Teresa Airport and returning to Rome.
Speaking out against evil, praising coexistence
Pope Francis recalled the country’s vicious history of anti-religious persecution during his visit..
“Recalling the decades of atrocious suffering and harsh persecutions against Catholics, Orthodox and Muslims, we can say that Albania was a land of martyrs: Many bishops, priests, men and women religious and laity paid for their fidelity with their lives,” he said. “Demonstrations of great courage and constancy in the profession of the faith are not lacking. How many Christians did not succumb when threatened, but persevered without wavering on the path they had undertaken.”
Those words refer to the latter part of the 20th century, when Albania was part of the Eastern bloc — atheism was promoted, and religious persons of all confessions were persecuted when the former communist regime banned religion in 1967 until 1990 when it fell following a students’ protest. The religious activities were hindered; schools and seminaries closed; and bishops and priests and imams were killed or arrested. When Albania was officially proclaimed an atheist state in 1967, more than 2,100 churches and mosques were closed.
In another important message globally, the Pope called on all religious leaders to condemn Islamic extremists who “pervert” religion to justify violence, holding up Albania as a model for interfaith harmony for the rest of the world.
“To kill in the name of God is a grave sacrilege. To discriminate in the name of God is inhuman,” Francis told representatives of Albania’s Muslim, Orthodox and Catholic communities during a half-day visit to Tirana in which he recalled the brutal persecution people of all faiths suffered under communism.
In his opening speech, Francis told President Bujar Nishani, Albanian officials and the diplomatic corps that Albania’s interreligious harmony was an “inspiring example” for the world, showing that Christian-Muslim coexistence wasn’t only possible but beneficial for a country’s development.
“This is especially the case in these times in which authentic religious spirit is being perverted by extremist groups,” he said. “Let no one consider themselves to be the ‘armor’ of God while planning and carrying out acts of violence and oppression!”
Francis’ decision to visit Albania before any major European capital was in keeping with his desire for the Catholic Church to go to the “periphery.” Albania is seeking European Union membership and his visit comes just a few weeks before he delivers a major speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
Albania’s president, Nishani, thanked Francis for making the country his first European destination, saying it was a historic event for all Albanians.
“There is no intolerance, extremism among us but reciprocal respect inherited from generation to generation,” he said. “From an atheist country, we have turned into a country of religious freedom.”
It didn’t seem to matter to the Albanians who turned out, many of whom traveled from the north for what the prime minister said was a “rock star” visit that gave the world a different view of Albania.
“Being here with you today, dear brothers and sisters of Albania, in this square dedicated to a humble and great daughter of this land, Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, I wish to repeat to you this greeting: May peace be in your homes! May peace reign in your hearts! Peace in your country!”
Muslims make up about 59 percent of Albania’s population, with Catholics amounting to 10 percent and Orthodox Christians just under that, according to the country’s official figures. Muslims and Christians govern together and inter-faith families are common.
Security tight amid threats
Security was unusually tight for the Pope’s first trip to a majority Muslim country since the ISIS began its crackdown on Christians in Iraq and announced its aim to extend its self-styled caliphate to Rome. The trip was preceded by reports that militants who trained in Iraq and Syria had returned and might pose a threat.
The Vatican insisted it had no reports of specific threats against the pope and that no special security measures were taken. But Francis’ interactions with the crowds were much reduced compared to his previous foreign trips. His open-topped vehicle kept moving at pace in Tirana’s main boulevard, not stopping once for Francis to greet the faithful as is his norm.
He only kissed a few babies at the very end of the route, and then left quickly after mass ended. Snipers dotted rooftops along the route, military helicopters flew overhead and uniformed Albanian police formed human chains to keep the crowds at bay behind barricades. Francis’ own bodyguards stood guard on the back of his car or jogged alongside.
Albania’s Interior Ministry promised “maximum” protection from 2,500 police forces and beefed-up patrols at border crossings.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, insisted that no special security measures were taken, and said Francis didn’t stop to greet the crowd as usual because he didn’t want to fall behind schedule.
On previous foreign trips, including his last one in South Korea, Francis frequently has run behind schedule because he spends so much time greeting crowds.
Religious intolerance an ‘insidious enemy’
Addressing Muslim and other religious leaders at a Catholic university, Francis said religious intolerance was a “particularly insidious enemy” that was evident in many parts of the world today.
“All believers must be particularly vigilant so that, in living out with conviction our religious and ethical code, we may always express the mystery we intend to honor,” he said. “This means that all those forms which present a distorted use of religion must be firmly refuted as false since they are unworthy of God or humanity.”
Francis has said it was legitimate to use force to stop the Islamic extremists, but that the international community should be consulted on how to do so. Last month, the Vatican’s office with relations with Muslims issued a strong statement condemning the Islamic State’s atrocities and calling on religious leaders, particularly Muslims, to use their influence to stop them. The extremists’ advance is of particular concern to the Vatican given the exodus of faithful from lands where Christian communities have existed for 2,000 years.
Pope thanks Albanians for warm welcome
Upon leaving Tirana, Francis sent a telegram to Albanian President Bujar Nishani, expressing his “deep gratitude” to him and the “beloved Albanian people” for their “generous hospitality.”
On the plane back, Pope said that Albania should not be defined as a European country.
The next day, as it has become his regular custom, Pope Francis visited the Roman basilica of St. Mary Major on Monday to give thanks to the Virgin Mary for her protection during his weekend visit to Albania.
The Pope prayed quietly before the image of the Virgin, Salus Populi Romani, and left a bouquet that he had received in Albania. He then joined the faithful in singing the Salve Regina at midday in the basilica before returning to the Vatican.
During his Sept. 24 general audience, Pope Francis discussed his recent apostolic journey to Albania, whose Communist regime brutally persecuted Christians and Muslims in the four decades following World War II.
He also asked for a general applause for the Albanian people.
“The remembrance of these dramatic events is essential for the future of a people. The memory of the martyrs who resisted in the faith is the guarantee for the destiny of Albania; for their blood was not shed in vain, but is a seed that will bear the fruits of peace and fraternal collaboration. Today, in fact, Albania is an example not only of the rebirth of the Church, but also of peaceful co-existence among the religions.”