Muslims and Christians throng Albania streets to greet Pope

TIRANA, Albania – Christians and Muslims thronged the Albanian capital Sunday, September 21, to greet Pope Francis who arrived in the mainly Muslim country for a one-day visit to praise it as a model of religious harmony.

The pontiff’s plane landed at Tirana’s Mother Teresa airport at 0700 GMT, where Prime Minister Edi Rama welcomed Francis for his first European visit outside of Italy.

“Albania is a country that has suffered so much,” the pope told journalists on his flight from Rome. “But it has managed to find peace between its different religions, which is a good sign for the world.”

The packed 11-hour trip comes at a sensitive time amid turmoil in the Middle East and rising intolerance in Europe.

Authorities stepped up security to its highest level across the Balkan country after warnings from Iraq that Islamic State jihadists could be planning an attack on the Catholic leader.

Tens of thousands of Albanians – many of them Muslim and Orthodox – had already gathered in Mother Teresa square in central Tirana where the pope will later celebrate Mass. Some waved welcoming banners while others chanted: “Papa Francesco! Papa Francesco!”

Yellow-and-white Vatican flags flew alongside Albanian ones in the main streets of the capital while vast portraits of Catholic priests and nuns persecuted under communism – when Albania became the world’s first atheist state – were strung across roads.

“The Catholic Church in Albania is a martyr church and with the visit of Pope Francis it will be known throughout the world,” said Aida Agustini, 51, one of the faithful waiting in the square.

Beside her Muslim Hysen Doli, 85, who had come to the square with 10 members of his family, said, “We belong to another religion but have come here out of respect to get the pope’s blessing.”

Francis had said he chose to visit the impoverished country for his first European trip outside Italy because of the example it set of religious co-existence.

While the Vatican earlier this year voiced support for US air strikes in Iraq to defend persecuted Christians, Francis has made dialogue between religions a cornerstone of his papacy.

‘We can all work together!’ 

In August, Francis said that his presence in Albania “will be a way of saying to everyone, ‘See, we can all work together!'”

He will later have meeting with the heads of the country’s other religious communities including Muslim, Orthodox, Bektashi, Jewish and Protestant leaders.

The leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics also wants to honor those who suffered under former communist dictator Enver Hoxha, during whose rule priests and imams were persecuted and many churches and mosques razed.

Between 1945 and 1985, 111 priests, 10 seminarians and 7 bishops died in detention or were executed.

Nearly 2,000 Orthodox and Catholic churches were destroyed or transformed into cinemas, theaters and dance halls, according to Francis, who said the successful rebirth of the Catholic faith after such persecution made Albania a place where “I felt like I should go”.

The revival of Catholicism is due in part to the popularity of Mother Teresa, an ethnic Albanian born in neighboring Macedonia. Yet only about 15% of the population are Catholic, with Muslims in the majority with 56%, and the Orthodox making up 11%.

In a country with one of the youngest populations in Europe, the Vatican will be hoping to tap into a source for converts in a continent gripped by secularism.

The 77-year-old pontiff will also meet Albanian President Bujar Nishani and visit orphans during the trip.

It is the second papal visit to Albania. Pope John Paul II travelled there the year after the collapse of its communism regime in 1992.

During that visit he paid tribute to “martyrs of the faith” and created four new bishops, including Michel Koliqi — then 91 years old — who had spent 21 years in detention. 

Heightened security 

The country of 3 million will likely be looking for the popular pope’s support in its bid to become a member of the European Union.

“It is a strong signal and an encouragement to ramp up our move towards European integration,” Don Gjergi Meta, the Church’s spokesman in Albania, told Vatican Radio.

The Vatican has insisted it has not increased security for the trip, but Albania’s interior ministry said police have set up 29 checkpoints in downtown Tirana, where most of the pope’s activities were planned.

Some Vatican watchers fear Francis has made himself a target by speaking out against the Islamic State organisation.

But the Argentine pontiff, who loves to mingle with the crowds, will use the same open-topped vehicle he uses in Saint Peter’s Square.

Albania last month began sending weapons and ammunition to Kurdish forces fighting IS militants in Iraq, and security sources in the country have dismissed fears that home-grown militants might be planning an attack. – Rappler.com