Pope Francis' general audience:
Albania, example of resurgence of the Church
Vatican
City, 24 September 2014 (VIS) – Pope Francis devoted today's general audience
to recounting last Sunday's trip to Albania. The Holy Father confirmed that it
was important to encourage this population on the path to the peaceful
co-existence of the different religious components of society. “Indeed, the
various religious expressions have in common a path of life and the will to do
good to one's neighbour, without denying or diminishing their respective
identities”.
Francis
recalled his meeting with priests, consecrated persons, seminarians and lay
movements, as well as a number of elderly people who had experienced, “in their
own flesh, terrible persecutions”. “It is precisely from the intimate union
with Jesus, from the relationship of love with Him, that these martyrs, like
all martyrs, found the strength to face the painful events that led them to
martyrdom … and it is the strength the Church finds in Christ's love. A strength
that supports us in moments of difficulty and inspires our apostolic action
today, to offer goodness and forgiveness to all, and thereby bearing witness to
God's mercy”.
The
Pontiff also mentioned the forty priests executed during the communist dictatorship,
for whom the cause for beatification is under way. “They take their place among
the hundreds of Christians – and Muslims – assassinated, tortured, incarcerated
and deported simply because they believed in God. These were dark years, during
which religious freedom was razed to the ground and it was forbidden to believe
in God; thousands of churches and mosques were destroyed, transformed into
warehouses and cinemas for the propagation of Marxist ideology, religious books
were burnt, and parents were forbidden from giving their children the religious
names of their ancestors. … Their blood was not shed in vain; it was the seed
that will bear the fruit of peace and fraternal collaboration. Today Albania
offers an example not only of the rebirth of the Church, but also of peaceful
co-existence between religions”.
The
Pope concluded by thanking the Lord for the trip, “which enabled me to meet a
courageous and strong population that has not given way to suffering”. He
encouraged the brothers and sisters of Albania to “be brave and good, to build
the present and the future of their country and of Europe … and may the Virgin
continue to guide the path of this population of martyrs”.
©
VIS, Vatican Information Service
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