The Atë Pjetër Meshkalla College

On Friday, the day began with a visit to the rector of the seminary, Dom Mark Shtjefni, who spoke of the valuable service provided by the Society and the training he had received. This was followed by a welcome to the 400-strong Pjetër Meshkalla College in Shkodra, with the headmistress, Sr Valentina Ndreca, and a delegation of teachers. A delegation of pupils then accompanied Father General to visit the rooms: the classrooms, the laboratories, the chapel. “Our school is beautiful, spacious, full of light”, stressed Fr Zef Bisha SJ, Superior.

“It is a strongly inclusive school”, explained Fr Bisha, “that wants to prepare world citizens.But many emigrate. We face great challenges: how to reach people on a pastoral, human level, how to accompany them through the Exercises, including teachers, what collaboration with other realities? It was a moment to give Father General a greater knowledge of our country.” Fr Sosa’s invitation therefore: to rediscover a synodal style and collaboration with the laity, looking to the future of the educational institution, which is calling to invest more and more in their formation.

The memory of Jesuit martyrs

In the afternoon, there was a visit to the prison where, with many others, the Jesuit martyrs were imprisoned during the communist regime. Daniel Dajani - the last rector of the College and Seminary - and Gjon Fausti, shot in 1946, and Brother Gjon Pantalija, who died in 1947. A moment of prayer in front of the cell where they were imprisoned and tortured. Then at the cemetery, at the tree where they were tied up and killed. “An intense and profound moment”, stressed Fr Bisha.

Read more on the EUM Province’s website:
P. Sosa at Meshkalla College. The memory of Jesuit martyrs

The cultural centre of the Sacred Heart Parish

On Saturday morning, Father General visited the industrial outskirts of Tirana, the parish’s pastoral focus area. He met with two families, listened to them and blessed them. In the community, “he shared a fraternal moment about the mission in Albania: the consolations and desolations”. In the afternoon, Fr Arturo Sosa SJ inaugurated the new cultural centre of the Sacred Heart parish in Tirana.

“A project that has been anticipated for years and is finally coming to fruition, born out of the need to have spaces next to the church to better carry out pastoral and social activities”, the Superior, Fr Zef Bisha, said. In 1939, when the church was built, the Jesuits had already planned a centre for cultural and social activities, but this was never realised due to the outbreak of war.

The centre, named after Fr Giuseppe Valentini SJ, one of the foremost experts of the Albanian language and culture, aims to be a place where people can meet “to promote dialogue between secular thought and the values of the Christian tradition, to educate university students with an open and critical spirit, to create a more cohesive parish community, and to listen to those who need material or psychological assistance or who seek protection from various forms of abuse”.

Read more on the EUM Province’s website:
Tirana: new cultural centre and bookshop inaugurated
Fr Sosa in Albania: “United in diversity”