Minneapolis Star & Tribune Mary Jordan, Washington Post April 14, 2007
Some are concerned about new practices and beliefs flowing in from outside; others are just “happy to have religion back.”
SHKODER, ALBANIA – The Roman Catholic cathedral that Communists turned into a basketball arena for two decades is now busier than ever, drawing more than 2,000 people to a single Sunday mass.
An ornate Albanian Orthodox church with three grand, peach-colored domes was readied for Easter celebrations and popular midnight candlelit processions.
And a few days ago, the latest of more than 50 mosques in the area opened with fanfare and a call to prayer.
In a country that once officially outlawed God, religion is back — but in a different way than before the long experiment in godlessness. Many Albanians have resumed spiritual practices with a faith strengthened by the years of suppression. At the same time, new practices and beliefs are being planted by a wave of foreign missionaries and money, making this tiny Adriatic country a remarkable example of the globalization of religion.
Albanians “are happy to have religion back,” said the Rev. Zef Pllumi, 83, a Catholic priest who spent 25 years in prison for his beliefs. Many people here welcome the foreign attention, saying the country needed the outside help. But Pllumi sees risks in the outside influence. “Foreigners don’t know our tradition, and many of those who study abroad come back with fundamentalist ideas,” he said.
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Clearly Archbishop Anastasios has provided magnificent leadership and an approach to mission that is fully in accord with Orthodox tradition. I heard Fr. Martin Ritzi, the current head of the Orthodox Christian Mission Center and long time missonary in Albania speak several years ago. He emphasized the importance of caring for the immediate needs of the people and living a Christian life–caring for those you can. He also pointed out that the lack of animosity between Christians and Muslims was due to the fact that Hoxa was an equal opportunity oppressor. Neither the Muslims nor the Christians were favored and neither really knew their faith any more. They had bonded as oppressed people.
In this case we got there first and there have been quite a few Muslims who have become Christian. I just don’t know how long the lack of animosity will hold as jihadist Imams backed by petro dollars set up shop in Albania as they surely are. Especially with the idiocy of US foreign policy in that region.