Posted on 09/20/2014 1:19:37 PM PDT by NYer
When Pope Francis lands at Mother Teresa Airport outside Tirana, Albania, Sunday, he will find a country still getting used to the concept of democracy—and learning again what it means to believe in God. The Church is "rising," in the words of Father Carlo Lorenzo Rossetti, who has been based in Albania since 2003. But several generations grew up in a society that had tried to erase God from public and private consciousness.
Father Rossetti, a Fidei donum priest from the Diocese of Rome, directs the “Redemptoris Mater” missionary seminary and teaches theology at the interdiocesan seminary in Shkoder. He spoke recently with Aid to the Church in Need, the international Catholic charity.
How would you describe the current situation in Albania, socially, politically and economically?
It seems to me that Albania is like a “teenager” who suffered a difficult and painful childhood. It’s a country in a growing process.
Socially, it means a country that is trying to overcome the past, the horrible past of dictatorship, atheism and total isolation. The greatest temptation is now to give up, to renounce and to forget this country by escaping through emigration.
Politically, it is a country that is trying to learn democracy. We have to remember that this kind of political system — that we consider normal in Western world — never existed in this poor semi-Eastern country. Albania, after centuries-long domination of severe Islamic-Osman Turkey, passed through rigid monarchy (King Zogu), Italian fascism, German Nazism, and immediately after World War II, through one of the most inhumane communist regimes under the radical Stalinist Enver Hoxha. The reason the rule of law is not easily taking roots is also due to this difficult inheritance. The classical heritage of Greek philosophy, Roman civic culture and Biblical spirituality, which is the very foundation of human rights and modern democracy, was largely bypassed in Albanian history. Sincerely, I do not think that we can manage an “implantatio democratiae” just by proposing free elections, under international supervision…
Economically, the country is growing, because the starting point was zero. The risks are corruption, exploitation, lack of workers’ rights, etc.
And how would you describe the situation of the Catholic Church in your country?
Well, the Church is rising again. You know that since the beginning of the communist regime, in 1945, the Communist Party (“Partia e Punes”) persecuted all kinds of religious denominations, but the Catholic Church was particularly hurt because of her links with foreign countries, especially Italy and the Vatican. The majority of the martyrs were executed in this period.
Moreover, in 1967, religion and faith were even officially abolished from Albania with the first atheistic constitution. All churches were destroyed or transformed into sports halls or stores. My generation in Albania is religiously very uneducated. The result is that usually we have churches attended by old persons, children and teenagers, but very few middle-aged men and women.
In the very first beginning of Church activity after the fall of the dictatorship (in the years 1991-1994) some older priests who survived captivity and torture visited a lot of villages (mainly in the North, where the Catholic presence was traditionally more conspicuous), proposing Catholic baptism without any catechism. You can easily encounter adults who claim to be Catholic, even “very Catholic,” while not knowing the basic Christian prayers. Often, to be Catholic is more an ethnic or sociological issue than a spiritual or religious one.
Nevertheless, over the last 20 years the pastoral work has been great. Thanks to the personal intervention of St. John Paul II, a lot of congregations and new movements entered Albania and are now serving this country. Also, priestly vocations have grown.
Ping!
It’s rising in Russia, also. We are seeing a world-wide 180.
God bless those beautiful children. May He guide them so they grow up to be good and faithful and lead happy lives as a result.
Isn’t Albania Muslim?
It was Marxist for awhile also. Christianity is breaking through.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word was not Muhammad, the Word was not Marx, the Word was not Alinsky, the Word is the One who was, who is, and who is to come. For all the rest, He who sits in heaven laughs them to scorn, and then makes them the footstool of the Word. Thanks be to God, who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
According to Wikipedis
ccording to 2011 census, 59% of Albania adheres to Islam, Christianity is practiced by 17% of the population, making it the 2nd largest religion in the country, 5.49% belongs to unspecified religious groups, 2.5% atheist, and 13.79% of the population preferred not to answer the question and so it cannot be known if they are religious or not.[115] Before World War II, 70% of the population were Muslims, 20% Eastern Orthodox, and 10% Roman Catholics.[8] According to a 2010 survey, religion today plays an important role in the lives of only 39% of Albanians, and Albania is ranked among the least religious countries in the world.[116] A 2012 Pew Research Center study found that 65% of Albanian Muslims are non-denominational Muslims.[117] ref.
St. Michael the Archangel, please protect the Pope during these travels.
Amen.
29 September is the Feast Day of St. Michael the Archangel.
Albania is turning into the hot, new, tourist destination. Several of my friends flew in to Tirana airport in order to travel to Macedonia, about 90 minutes away. Mother Teresa was of ethnic Albanian descent, but was actually born in Skopje, Macedonia.
Will U.S. Christians have to emigrate to Russia if they want to defend traditional marriage publicly? Will Russia have to send missionaries to the United States?
Also look for southern hemisphere nations to also send Christian missionaries.
Yep, personally trained by the Pope.
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