Speech of Prime Minister Edi Rama at the interpellation required by MP Vangjel Dule:
Dear Vangjel!
You called me here to the interpellation wrong, but it is my duty to give account to this Assembly and to each of its honorable members, even when they address to me without cause, for deeds that have no direct connection to my office.
And here below is my report that will make you understand why the case that you have raised at the level of interpellation with the Prime Minister has nothing to do with us.
If I were to take the example of the great Pope Gregory, much honored also by the Orthodox, who in the sixth century forced Catholics of Sicily to build the synagogue that they had destroyed in the name of fanaticism, we would now be discussing the reconstruction of the church of Saint Athanasius destroyed by the Communist fanaticism in the 70s.
The destroyed building, on which you dear Vangjel, but also many others, have created a fuss, is not the church of the martyr St. Athanasius. Indeed, the building in question has never been a church for a single day. It is actually surprising how people like you, who have often used the faith for political purposes, have not yet understood that any building can be a temporary place of worship, but the ecclesiastical canons recognized worldwide teach us that not every site of worship deserves to be called a church.
Neither historians nor scholars have been able to say – if I’m not mistaken – if this building and the corner that was used as an altar have ever consecrated in accordance with the rules of ecclesiastical authority.
And this basic truth, necessary to speak of a church, invalidates the object of interpellation, because the Building Inspectorate has actually destroyed no church. The destroyed building, which you continue to call a destroyed church, was just a building, an informal one, a sort of garage or barn, built in an outrageous way not by the church, but by the individual brutality of the 90s on a historical monument.
It does not take much intelligence to say that in any kind of competition that we could arrange for competitors to ask what that building was, there would be someone who would have confirmed that it was a church. All those who have seen with their eyes the image I’m talking about, and everyone who wants to see it to ascertain my words, will agree on what I am saying.
In addition, the destruction of the building in question was simply an act of law enforcement and the fulfillment of duty by the Municipality of Himare, in the wake of urban rebirth in an area of rare natural and historical assets, destroyed over years of abuse and abandonment. It is the facts speaking, not me, that in application of the Law on the Organization and Functioning of the Local Government, pursuant to the Law on Construction Inspection and the Law on Territorial Planning, the Municipality of Himare has followed all procedures foreseen and required by law for the destruction of an informal building.
This informal building could not be included in the legalization process because, as I think you know very well, it is not allowed to legalize informal constructions in places of historical, cultural and archaeological heritage. This is what the law provides, despite the history of the years prior to our arrival in government has given countless examples of violation of the law in this regard.
It’s obvious that most of the residents of Dhermi did not agree with the destruction of this building, which did represent nothing in a territory where, I remind you, there are 38 churches, old and new, and where, undoubtedly, the community will continue to have full support from the state to build more of them if necessary. Obviously, in collaboration with the church authorities that establish the difference between a church and any building, where men can also pray.
Therefore, we must show greater respect for the places of worship and, above all, we must show greater respect, in this case, for a place where there are the ruins of the church you have mentioned, the true Church of St. Athanasius, which was declared a monument of culture in 1963, and subsequently removed from the list in 1969, thus remaining at the mercy of the barbarians, in the context of the war for atheism, that you have brought here before us.
As far as I am concerned, from my point of view, the destruction of that building, which was totally unacceptable not only as a church but even as a barn in that place, in order to open a contact channel between people and history, is a very noble work, and frankly I expected that you, dear Vangjel, would welcome it, as a man who deals with questions of faith and history. It is a work that raises the values of faith, the values of history and cultural heritage of that place and of that land.
At the initiative of the Municipality of Himare, the green light was given to the reconstruction of the ancient church of Dhermi, an imitation of that church, which will not be a place for religious services, but will serve to restore that radiant space of a history that we could not leave buried under the trivial weight of that scandalous object.
Therefore, the Municipality of Himare deserves to be congratulated for trying to transform that area in an echo of which, I think all of us, without exception, feel proud, in addition to having a duty to pass it on to the other generations so that they can hear and feel it, but also to visitors to whom we should not show as churches objects that are stripped of any religious value, not to mention any historical or aesthetic values.
Of course, it is up neither to the Prime Minister nor to the Government to conduct historical research or to give an explanation of historical facts. History is written by historians, we live it, and regardless of what we think of what historians write, I do not think we can use our position to influence the writing of history. And it is the historians who have written about the origins of this church, just like they have written on the monk Nilo Catalano who, just as Filoteo Zassi, Zef Skiroi and many others, used to open educational and cultural hearths that were attended also by members of other religions.
Nilo Catalano was not only a missionary of faith; he was also a missionary of the Albanian language. The reason for the return of the image of the ancient church of St. Athanasius is of great historical value, because it is linked precisely with this fact, because that was not just a church, but it was also a place where the Albanian language was taught. The language of the land where the Himariota man has always lived, ever since God created man.
I could never understand, dear Vangjel, how and since when you and those like you of Greek nationality think of yourselves as owners of the question of orthodoxy and of the Orthodox communities in Albania. Fraternally, I want to remind you that the Orthodox Albanians have never been and are not Greek. As well as, the space of their faith, their freedom and their religious rights are part of any but the jurisdiction of the Republic of Albania.
That said, we must not forget that even the affiliation of the church of St. Athanasius, if it were determined on the basis of the rite, would not be necessarily Orthodox, as the Byzantine rite was established in very remote times from the Catholic believers in communion with the church of ancient Rome.
This was witnessed by the initiators of the construction of that temple dedicated to St. Athanasius of Alexandria, coryphaeus of the Christian religion, at a time when the integrity of this religion was threatened by heresies or attacks which, as the story is showing again, had their origin in the Byzantine environments of Constantinople, and that, unfortunately, not rarely were related not only to the religion but also to the language of the people who inhabited those areas.
Nilo Catalano was Italian. He was born in Terra Massa, a village in Sicily, in 1637. At 22 he put on the habit of the Basilian monks in the monastery of Grottaferrata, near Rome, a famous monastery of Catholic Byzantine rite, and died in Himare on 3 June 1694. He preached in the coastal villages, then in Dukat, Shen Vasil, Nivice, Terbac, Kuc and Zhulat, all belonging to the then region of Himare – now the new Municipality of Himare – which at the time included the entire Laberi with a total of 40 towns, as the written documents of the 16th – 17thcenturies show. The homily was held in Albanian. He wrote books and manuals in Albanian, and as soon as he arrived in Dhermi, he opened the first school for young people and children to whom he taught in the Albanian language the Christian Doctrine.
There were 1850 houses in Dhermi in 1694. The Albanian school of Catalano’s was attended by 80 pupils, which was a big deal for that time. Dhimitër Shuteriqi, but also Jup Kastrati have studied Catalano’s manuscripts which they have highly appreciated. They show that Catalano was a great scholar.
St. Athanasius’ Church is a post-Byzantine church, as many other churches in the area about which archaeologists and scholars of our heritage, such as Alexander Meksi or Thomo Piro, have written.
Certainly, scholars will continue to write and study in depth the history of the church and the monk who died in that land and where his remains cannot rest in peace. But the story of the remains of that great man are a topic for another day.
So, let’s say it loud and clear, this whole thing has nothing to do with either the faith or politics. Given that the orthodoxy, just as the Church of Rome, it sticks to its “catholicity”, i.e. its intrinsic and universal character, according to the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, gives no preference to a certain orthodox nationality over another. At least, this is what has been always said, and this is what I wish you believed too. Because this is what I believe, dear friend Vangjel. We must all together believe this.
The effort to give Orthodoxy a nation is an effort that is not concerned with orthodoxy. On the contrary, as history teaches us, in many cases it has caused damages and loss of human lives in other countries. I think that we should leave the rest to the freedom of faith, while we remain at the border separating the state from religion and the church. Others prefer to mix these things together. Here in Albania, we made a clear distinction that is written in the Constitution that you, all of you had in your hands. Faith and faith issues have nothing to do with politics and the affair of state.
Our duty as a state is to do, without further ado, two things: the first is to preserve, revive, remember and appreciate our national history and cultural historical moments, along with the figures who have contributed to this history, also by means of religion, and especially religious figures cha have disclosed our language, for which many people have lost their lives, and for which there have been, not infrequently, in places outside these lands, bloody episodes.
Therefore, we have to pass on to other generations this memory, because its origins need to be known not only by historians, but also by us, our children and our children’s children, in order to understand the great value of our language and our religious and cultural coexistence. This coexistence, in the community of Albanian and Greek Orthodox, simple people and believers, has never been put into question, and on which many questions were raised whenever political or other interests transmitted through politics intervened in deep questions of the heart, such as the matters of faith.
In these troubled times, in this world where men can distinguish increasingly less the path of reason to live together with someone who belongs to a religion other than their own, it is our duty to become all together promoters of what Pope Francis discovered here and called “religious brotherhood”. Religious brotherhood while building symbols of memory, symbols of education, symbols of reference everywhere this country has created a culture.
Let us leave politics out of this. We have enough reasons, but even when we don’t have them we find them, as we have seen, to fight against each other and to mock at each other. But we must not touch the issue of religion, and not confuse it with the issues of law.
With regard to the care for Orthodox churches as a value of extraordinary Albanian culture and also of Albanian art, I challenge all of you who are here, to run the numbers, as have we done with these limited possibilities, in so little time – at a point where Gjanica is now billed to us as our work.
Our care for the Orthodox and Catholic churches, for the basilicas and mosques in these two years cannot compare with what has been done before.
There are 38 churches in the area of Dhermi. The oldest one is that of Saint Steven, built in the 12th century. Most of the churches in Dhermi were built in the centuries 16th – 17th.
These churches, which are monuments of culture, for the first time after the fall of communism, have undergone a thorough control. For the first time they have been part of an inventory covering all the specific issues of every church. For the first time they have been cleaned, not by the church – I mean the church authorities – but by employees of the Institute of Cultural Heritage and the Ministry Of Culture, and for the first time they have entered the restoration process.
The church of Saint Spiridhoni in Vuno has just finished to be restored, after its ceiling fell down and it was left at the mercy of fate.
Just two weeks ago we declared a cultural heritage the church of St. Nicholas in Dhermi, completely forgotten, with no roof. In addition, I would invite you to go and visit the church of Saint Andrew in Karaburun, another miracle. Or you can go and visit the church of Kozare in Berat, which burnt down last year after the mass due to the extremely poor conditions. Or the church of Ristoz in Korce and the Evangelization church in Berat. In addition, we have ready the project for the Mesopotamian church.
Erion Brace is very proud that the church of St. Athanasius in Karavasta end will be open for Christmas after so many years of degeneration, and since now it has become a favorite tourist attraction, although it is still under restoration. And I am convinced that Erjon will welcome you.
All these are not simple interventions in great works of our history, culture and art, but they are interventions in an object of worship at the service of believers. They must not be welcomed by a lost cow who thinks it is a barn, but they must be welcomed by the relevant authority with the greatest honors.
Dhërmi and its faithful people deserve dignified churches, and we will strongly support communities with any means, no matter how limited they are.
I’m telling you one more thing.
At least, in these two years since we have opened all sites, the Orthodox Church has not spend a penny to restore the Orthodox churches that were destroyed and forgotten. We don’t blame it for this, for its resources may be very limited.
But I assure you that the dialogue the Archbishop Anastasio has been constant since the very beginning, and we made an agreement on the Orthodox Church to contribute financially. He couldn’t stick with this agreement, but is not a sin. Spiritually, it is in agreement with us and I am confident that the spiritually speaking he has respected this agreement. And this is enough for us to proceed further.
Meanwhile, we had to uproot a tree that had grown inside the church of St. Mary in Delvine, and penetrated its roof. Not to mention the churches in Berat that, for as much as they have been preserved, have been preserved by God. And they are proof that there is a God indeed.
Today we have a list of churches in jeopardy. And I would be very happy if you put all your authority on the ecclesiastic world at the disposal of lobbying and promotion of this new approach of the government for the renaissance in this field, in order to be able to attract interested investors. So that, instead of paying to lobby in determined chancellery for releasing reports on how religion is being fought in Albania, they could pay to save their souls from the sin of lobbying.
As of today, there are 6 sites open for orthodox churches. And all of what I said is on the state budget.
The Albanian Orthodox Church is a free church in a free country and under a jurisdiction defined by free men with their free vote. So it has been said since the autocephalous proclamation in 1937. The partnership between the two entities requires a deeply sincere cooperation based on law and transparency above all, based on the assumption that when we talk about the church we not talk with voters, when we restore churches, we don’t seek votes of believers, and when we raise our voice for the extremely poor situation of the churches, we do not do it to get votes of angry people. This should be a very clear presumption.
This is what we have tried to do and will try do to.
I can sympathize with those who name God on Sundays, and then go on dealing with other things on other days of the week. But I cannot sympathize with those who name God for personal interest.
Many thanks!
