At the Cathedral of "St. Shtejfnit" in Shkodra yesterday are beatified 38 Catholic martyrs persecuted by the communist regime.
Cathedral "St. shtejfnit" transformed for the big event, hosted about 10 thousand believers, 300 priests and high Catholic authorities of the religion and other religions in Albania. The Mass is celebrated by Cardinal Angelo Amatoshtetit, envoy of Pope Francis, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
The Beatification of the martyrs of the Catholic faith follows major events like the bliss of Mother Teresa and the appointment of Ernest Troshani as a Cardinal by Pope.
A day before the Albanian Parliament approved a resolution proposed by the opposition to punish crimes of communism against the clergy as well as a special recognition for the role and activities of clerics in defense of democratic values and freedoms and fundamental rights and human freedoms.
The decree for the Beatification of 38 martyrs of the Albanian Catholic Church signed in April by Pope Francis, is a move that puts them alongside the most prominent figures of the Catholicism world. 2 years ago when the Holy Father visited Albania, portraits of martyrs were placed in the boulevard.
For the Catholic Church and for all the Albanian nation, the day of the beatification of 38 Albanian martirs will be marked as a historic day..