Speech of Prime Minister Edi Rama on the occasion of the screening of “Reception”, a film dedicated to the historical visit of Pope Francis to Albania:
Dear representatives of religious communities,
Dear friends,
As Providence would have it, the film so majestically dedicated to the unforgettable visit of Pope Francis in Albania is being screened this month, which is the month of every revivification. Still in the atmosphere of Easter, we can victoriously pronounce the beginning of the antiphon of the Mass of Resurrection: Haec dies – “This is the day which the Lord hath made”.
It is no coincidence that I mention this rosary of words today, because 22 years ago it was reiterated as a divine refrain in each paragraph of the spiritual legacy that Pope St. John Paul II left to Albanians through his memorable speech at the Cathedral of St. Stephen, Protomartyr of Shkodra, on Sunday 25 April 1993.
The years that have passed since that day are equal to the time frame that separates the martyrdom of the Church in Albania from that testamentary speech which, along with the oils and sacred formulas, consecrated in an April of revival the heads of Albanian bishops who yesterday were martyrs, while today are the prelates of a religion with full rights of civility.
Haec dies – “This is the day” in which for us all, events that are seemingly disconnected from one another take their full meaning in light of our common journey as a nation, and the journey of every person who feels engaged in his beliefs.
In April 1967 the Albanian Catholic community was covered by the martyr shroud and “experienced an unprecedented death experience”, as John Paul II called it in his address at the Cathedral of Shkodra.
Miraculously resurrected, it appeared in April 1993 when Pope John Paul II gave it back, along with dignity, a renewed life through the reconstruction of the church hierarchy and said, as the prophet Jeremiah in the Old Testament: “I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding”. While John-Paul II accessed to the gates of eternity on 2 April 2005 with a pure soul and a tormented body, the newly elected Pope Francis, although very busy, announced in April 2014 that Albania was welcomed in my person at the doorstep of St. Peter.
We all know what happened afterwards, and we experience it always with the same shared joy as on that day: the visit of Pope Francis to Tirana, which radiated throughout the Albanian speaking space and beyond, and showed to the world an Albania as it had never known before.
What the Holy Father saw on that day was precisely the experience of unprecedented death that Albania had gone through and about which John Paul II told; the wait, the extreme wait for redemption and recovery.
Although a death experience, this wait was never drowsiness, but a continuous journey conceived by the hope and blood of the martyrs.
The liturgy of the Church of the East emphasizes very gracefully the journey of Christ to the depths of the earth, during the three days in the tomb, to reconcile the man of today and tomorrow with the original Adam, freed from the early fatigues of sin.
Lost in the grave but with a lively faith, bedridden in pain and oblivion but always on a journey with God towards the hope that does not lie, as was the slogan of Pope Francis’ visit, this is actually the resurrected body of the Church in Albania and the price of freedom refound.
In Albania Pope Francis was confronted with the reality of live testimony of the freedom of knowledge and faith, and experienced with touching purity, with his tears, a unique experience that only small Albania can offer.
The ancient scream of Tertullian “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christians” was tested here, on this land. Although pronounced in the darkest times of the Roman persecutions, this scream, which was echoed through the centuries in Albania and is mirrored in Albania, helps us to see farther than the horrors exercised on Christian populations worldwide by the totalitarians of every color yesterday, and by the fanatics mercenaries of ISIS today.
In light of hope and not of the satisfied curiosity, we need to ponder the words of Pope Francis during the Vespers of 21 September in the Cathedral of Tirana: “Go home and reflect on the good. Today, we touched the martyrs”.
With the sad and lighting experience, we fully support Christian populations who suffer daily persecution, from Kenya to Iraq, Syria and Nigeria, and we join unanimously the appeal for awareness and help, that comes not only from Christian leaders, but also from Muslim community leaders, Jewish and hundreds and thousands of non-governmental organizations without religious commitments, not including democratic governments around the world.
Like yesterday under communist terror, today, in a troubled actuality, persecuted Christians embody more than themselves. They embody freedom trampled and always threatened, the tree that, as Victor Hugo said, was planted 2000 years ago on the Golgotha.
Haec dies – “This is the day” when we have to understand how fragile are the fruits of religious coexistence, cohabitation of opinions and ideas, commitments of everyone. Each of us, and I am not talking only about interpersonal relationships, but also about inter-institutional and inter-state relations, such as those between Church and State, should realize that we are extremely poor in our loneliness and infinitely rich in synergy with others.
With their language, to all those who have an opinion about how the world moves, I say the mutual interdependence in a globalized world makes us need each other. And allow me to take this opportunity to make this finding mine and to remind it for all of you in a simpler and definitely more authentic and inviting way for the heart. Or more precisely, to put it differently, with the words of Pope Francis during the meeting with religious leaders at the University Our Lady of Good Counsel: “Wanderers on this earth, as we aspire to great things, truth and eternity, we must not forget that everyone’s life depends on the other, that we are entrusted with the care for one another.”
To conclude I would like to say that Pope Francis was very impressed by the attentions and the care he received in every moment of that visit, and he was concerned to know if the staff who dealt with preparations was tired. As the Gospel says, “Everyone who works deserves reward”, this is the day to say “Thank you” to all those who worked hard to make this visit a resurrection for us.
Thank you all!
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“Reception”, a film inspired by the historic visit of Pope Francis in Albania, was screened this evening for the public of Tirana.
The film was produced under the auspices of Prime Minister Edi Rama, with the support of the Ministry of Culture and was funded by the National Center of Cinematography.
The film “Reception”, directed by Roland Sejko, is based on the book “Live to tell” by Father Zef Pllumi, and on documents, photos and film footage from the archives in Albania and of the Institute Luce.
