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The situation of the church in Albania
The Communist regime under Enver Hoxha considered Albania an "atheist country" and tried to eliminate religion in both the public and private sphere. The first democratic elections were held in 1992 and subsequently the concerns about the lack of religious freedom have been alleviated considerably. In the preamble, and then in detail in Articles 10 and 24, the 1998 Albanian Constitution allows the right of religious freedom and the equal treatment of all religions by the state. It also acknowledges the religions juridical status. Cordial relations between the various religious faiths have helped to create a generally positive atmosphere in this country. There is no state religion. The majority of Christians belong either to the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania or the Catholic Church. All religious groups are permitted to open bank accounts and to own land and buildings.
In 2007, in the strongly Catholic region of Shkoder (Scutari), a controversy over the erection of a statue in honor of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, who is of Albanian ethnic origin although born in Macedonia, was successfully resolved. One of the leaders of the local Muslim community initially criticized the fact that the statue was to be placed on public land, maintaining that Mother Teresa was a figure who belonged to the Catholic Church's patrimony of saints. However, the national leadership of the Albanian Islamic Community expressed their approval of this initiative since she was an important personality for the entire country, regardless of religious belief. In the end the Islamic community in Shkoder also withdrew its complaint and fell into line with the opinions expressed by the community at a national level.
On January 12th 2008, L'Osservatore Romano reported an incident involving the demolition of a cross that had been publicly erected, this time on the hill above Bushat, in Northern Albania; this act of vandalism, which took place on the Muslim festivity of Eid al-Adha or "Abraham's Sacrifice" (two months and ten days after the end of Ramadan, during the period in which the pilgrimage to Mecca takes place), was actually part of a dispute that had been ongoing for some tim between the Catholic community in this village and the Muslim communities in nearby villages who did not want a crucifix at the end of their valley.
On September 30th, the same source reported the address by Pope Benedict XVI on September 29th at Castel Gandolfo to the new Albanian Ambassador to the Holy See, Rrok Logu. The Pope emphasized the seriousness with which the government in Tirana is addressing the completion of legislation regulating its relations with the religious communities in the country. He also expressed his appreciation for the efforts made by the authorities in resolving the difficult issue of the return of, and compensation for, those properties confiscated by the communist regime from the various religious groups, and in particular from the Catholic Church, Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania, the Sunni Muslims and the Bektashi Muslim community.
On December 5th, 2007 L'Osservatore Romano reported on the signing, two days earlier in his Tirana offices by Albanian Finance Minster Ridvan Bode, and Monsignor Giovanni Bulaitis, the Apostolic Nuncio in Albania, of a supplement to the already existing agreement of 2002 between the Holy See and Albania on a number of financial and economic issues. In particular the agreement established the rules for the fiscal status of the institutions belonging to the Catholic Church. Since then, the Albanian government financially supports the Catholic Church, providing members of the clergy with a stipend in accordance to the Law on funding religious communities.
The Albanian Orthodox Church is building a new cathedral in Tirana on a piece of land it received as a grant in compensation for expropriations enacted under the former Communist regime.
For its part, the Muslim community has applied for a permit to build a new mosque on land that it, too, received as compensation for expropriations incurred during the Communist period. The application is currently under consideration by the Municipality of Tirana.
How you can help
Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) supports several projects in Albania. You can support these projects by donating via their national offices.
Below you can find one or more finished projects ACN supported in the past.
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Two German Franciscan nuns, Sister Gratias Ruf and Sister Bernadette Ebenhoch have been working since 1997 in the mountains of northern Albania, more precisely in the small town of Fushe-Arrez, around 85 miles (130 km) north of Tirana. Even during the warlike years of the 1990s the sisters stayed on bravely here, following the collapse of the communist regime of Enver Hoxha, when almost everybody carried a weapon. Especially between 1997 and 1999, Albania was enveloped in crisis, when the banks collapsed and the population reacted with explosive aggression. Read more >>
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High in the upper corners of the church, the plaster was crumbling, and visible cracks were extending across the walls. Last year, in the southern Albanian town of Fier, the people were struggling with the headache of a church in need of renovation and with a leaky roof. In the early 1990s, shortly after the collapse of communism in Albania, ACN helped for the building of this church. Read more >>
Statistics
Population: 3.17 Million
Christian Population: 1.12 Million
Religious statistics:
Muslims: 38.8%
Christians: 35.4%
Non religious: 25.6%
Others: 0.2%
Albania: A nation recovering from communism (short film)
Albania: Carmelites of Nynshat
Albania: A Nation without God
Albania: A Nation without God (audio)