Leaving the Presidential Palace after his meeting with the Authorities, the Holy Father traveled by car to the nearby Mother Teresa Square for the celebration of the Mass. Upon his arrival, the Mayor of Tirana, Mister Lulzim Xhelal Basha presented him with the keys to the city.
The Mass began shortly after 11:00am local time.
The Gospel we have just heard tells us that, as well as the Twelve Apostles, Jesus calls another seventy-two disciples and that he sends them to the villages and cities to announce the Kingdom of God (cf. Lk 10:1-9, 17-20). He comes to bring the love of God to the world and he wishes to share it by means of communion and fraternity. To this end he immediately forms a community of disciples, a missionary community, and he trains them how to go out on mission. The method is both clear and simple: the disciples visit homes and their preaching begins with a greeting which is charged with meaning: Peace be to this house!. It is not only a greeting, but also a gift: the gift of peace. Being here with you today, dear brothers and sisters of Albania, in this Square dedicated to a humble and great daughter of this land, Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, I wish to repeat to you this greeting: May peace be in your homes! May peace reign in your hearts! Peace in your country! Peace!
In the mission of the seventy-two disciples we see a reflection of the Christian community’s missionary experience in every age: the risen and living Lord sends not only the Twelve, but the entire Church; he sends each of the baptized to announce the Gospel to all peoples. Through the ages, the message of peace brought by Jesus’ messengers has not always been accepted; at times, the doors have been closed to them. In the recent past, the doors of your country were also closed, locked by the chains of prohibitions and prescriptions of a system which denied God and impeded religious freedom. Those who were afraid of the truth did everything they could to banish God from the hearts of men and women and to exclude Christ and the Church from the history of your country, even though it was one of the first to receive the light of the Gospel. In the second reading, in fact, we heard a reference being made to Illyria, which in Paul’s time included the territory of modern-day Albania.
Recalling the decades of atrocious suffering and harsh persecutions against Catholics, Orthodox and Muslims, we can say that Albania was a land of martyrs: many bishops, priests, men and women religious, laity, and clerics and ministers of other religions paid for their fidelity with their lives. Demonstrations of great courage and constancy in the profession of the faith are not lacking. How many Christians did not succumb when threatened, but persevered without wavering on the path they had undertaken! I stand spiritually at that wall of the cemetery of Scutari, a symbolic place of the martyrdom of Catholics before the firing squads, and with profound emotion I place the flower of my prayer and of my grateful and undying remembrance. The Lord was close to you, dear brothers and sisters, to sustain you; he led you and consoled you and in the end he has raised you up on eagle’s wings as he did for the ancient people of Israel, as we heard in the First Reading. The eagle, depicted on your nation’s flag, calls to mind hope, and the need to always place your trust in God, who does not lead us astray and who is ever at our side, especially in moments of difficulty.
Today, the doors of Albania have been reopened and a season of new missionary vitality is growing for all of the members of the people of God: each baptized person has his or her role to fulfil in the Church and in society. Each one must experience the call to dedicate themselves generously to the announcing of the Gospel and to the witness of charity; called to strengthen the bonds of solidarity so as to create more just and fraternal living conditions for all. Today, I have come to thank you for your witness and also to encourage you to cultivate hope among yourselves and within your hearts. Never forget the eagle! The eagle does not forget its nest, but flies into the heights. All of you, fly into the heights! Go high! I have also come to involve the young generations; to nourish you assiduously on the Word of God, opening your hearts to Christ, to the Gospel, to an encounter with God, to an encounter with one another, as you are already doing and by which you witness to the whole of Europe.
In the spirit of communion among bishops, priests, consecrated persons and laity, I encourage you to bring vitality to your pastoral activities, which are activities of service, and to continuously seek new ways of making the Church present in society. In particular, I extend an invitation to the young, of whom there were so many along the way from the airport to here. This is a young people, very young! And where there is youth, there is hope. Listen to God, worship him and love one another as a people, as brothers and sisters.
To the Church which is alive in this land of Albania, I say thank you for the example of fidelity to the Gospel. Do not forget the nest, your long history, or your trials. Do not forget the wounds, but also do not be vengeful. Go forward to work with hope for a great future. So many of the sons and daughters of Albania have suffered, even to the point of sacrificing their lives. May their witness sustain your steps today and tomorrow as you journey along the way of love, of freedom, of justice and above all, of peace. Amen.
At the conclusion of the Mass, the Pope led the recitation of the Angelus with the faithful who were present in Mother Teresa Square. Introducing the Marian prayer, the Holy Father said:
Dear brothers and sisters,
Before concluding this celebration, I wish to greet you all, you who have come from Albanian and from other neighbouring countries. I thank you for your presence and for the witness of your faith.
In particular, I greet all the young people who are here! They say that Albania is the youngest country in Europe and I want to say a word to you. I invite you to build your existence on Jesus Christ, on God: those who build with God at the foundation build on rock because He is always faithful, even if we are not always faithful (cf 2 Tm 2:13). Jesus knows this better than anyone else; when we make mistakes, he doesn't condemn us; rather he says to us: Go, and sin no more (Jn 8:11). Dear young people, you are the new generation, the new generation of Albanians, the future of your country. With the strength of the gospel and the example of your ancestors as well as the example of your martyrs, you will know how to say no to the idolatry of money - no to the idolatry of money! - no to false individualistic liberty, not to dependence and violence; and instead you will know how to say yes to the culture of encounter and solidarity, yes to beauty that is inseparable from goodness and truth; yes to life spent with great spirit but faithful in small things. In this way, you will build a better Albania and a better world in the footsteps of your ancestors.
We now turn to the Virgin Mother who is venerated here above all with the title of Our Lady of Good Counsel. I travel in spirit to her shrine at Scutari which is so precious to you and I confide to her the entire Church of Albania and all the Albanian people, especially the families, the children and the elderly who are the living memory of a people. May Our Lady guide your steps together with God, toward the hope that never disappoints.
The Angel of the Lord ....
At the conclusion of the Eucharistic celebration, the Archbishop of Tiranë-Durrës, His Excellency, Rrok K. Mirdita greeted and thanked the Pope. Then the Holy Father, Pope Francis went to the Apostolic Nunciature in Tirana where he met and shared lunch with the bishops of Albania.
The Mass began shortly after 11:00am local time.
Homily of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the Mass celebrated in Mother Teresa Square
Tirana, Albania
The Gospel we have just heard tells us that, as well as the Twelve Apostles, Jesus calls another seventy-two disciples and that he sends them to the villages and cities to announce the Kingdom of God (cf. Lk 10:1-9, 17-20). He comes to bring the love of God to the world and he wishes to share it by means of communion and fraternity. To this end he immediately forms a community of disciples, a missionary community, and he trains them how to go out on mission. The method is both clear and simple: the disciples visit homes and their preaching begins with a greeting which is charged with meaning: Peace be to this house!. It is not only a greeting, but also a gift: the gift of peace. Being here with you today, dear brothers and sisters of Albania, in this Square dedicated to a humble and great daughter of this land, Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, I wish to repeat to you this greeting: May peace be in your homes! May peace reign in your hearts! Peace in your country! Peace!
In the mission of the seventy-two disciples we see a reflection of the Christian community’s missionary experience in every age: the risen and living Lord sends not only the Twelve, but the entire Church; he sends each of the baptized to announce the Gospel to all peoples. Through the ages, the message of peace brought by Jesus’ messengers has not always been accepted; at times, the doors have been closed to them. In the recent past, the doors of your country were also closed, locked by the chains of prohibitions and prescriptions of a system which denied God and impeded religious freedom. Those who were afraid of the truth did everything they could to banish God from the hearts of men and women and to exclude Christ and the Church from the history of your country, even though it was one of the first to receive the light of the Gospel. In the second reading, in fact, we heard a reference being made to Illyria, which in Paul’s time included the territory of modern-day Albania.
Recalling the decades of atrocious suffering and harsh persecutions against Catholics, Orthodox and Muslims, we can say that Albania was a land of martyrs: many bishops, priests, men and women religious, laity, and clerics and ministers of other religions paid for their fidelity with their lives. Demonstrations of great courage and constancy in the profession of the faith are not lacking. How many Christians did not succumb when threatened, but persevered without wavering on the path they had undertaken! I stand spiritually at that wall of the cemetery of Scutari, a symbolic place of the martyrdom of Catholics before the firing squads, and with profound emotion I place the flower of my prayer and of my grateful and undying remembrance. The Lord was close to you, dear brothers and sisters, to sustain you; he led you and consoled you and in the end he has raised you up on eagle’s wings as he did for the ancient people of Israel, as we heard in the First Reading. The eagle, depicted on your nation’s flag, calls to mind hope, and the need to always place your trust in God, who does not lead us astray and who is ever at our side, especially in moments of difficulty.
Today, the doors of Albania have been reopened and a season of new missionary vitality is growing for all of the members of the people of God: each baptized person has his or her role to fulfil in the Church and in society. Each one must experience the call to dedicate themselves generously to the announcing of the Gospel and to the witness of charity; called to strengthen the bonds of solidarity so as to create more just and fraternal living conditions for all. Today, I have come to thank you for your witness and also to encourage you to cultivate hope among yourselves and within your hearts. Never forget the eagle! The eagle does not forget its nest, but flies into the heights. All of you, fly into the heights! Go high! I have also come to involve the young generations; to nourish you assiduously on the Word of God, opening your hearts to Christ, to the Gospel, to an encounter with God, to an encounter with one another, as you are already doing and by which you witness to the whole of Europe.
In the spirit of communion among bishops, priests, consecrated persons and laity, I encourage you to bring vitality to your pastoral activities, which are activities of service, and to continuously seek new ways of making the Church present in society. In particular, I extend an invitation to the young, of whom there were so many along the way from the airport to here. This is a young people, very young! And where there is youth, there is hope. Listen to God, worship him and love one another as a people, as brothers and sisters.
To the Church which is alive in this land of Albania, I say thank you for the example of fidelity to the Gospel. Do not forget the nest, your long history, or your trials. Do not forget the wounds, but also do not be vengeful. Go forward to work with hope for a great future. So many of the sons and daughters of Albania have suffered, even to the point of sacrificing their lives. May their witness sustain your steps today and tomorrow as you journey along the way of love, of freedom, of justice and above all, of peace. Amen.
At the conclusion of the Mass, the Pope led the recitation of the Angelus with the faithful who were present in Mother Teresa Square. Introducing the Marian prayer, the Holy Father said:
Dear brothers and sisters,
Before concluding this celebration, I wish to greet you all, you who have come from Albanian and from other neighbouring countries. I thank you for your presence and for the witness of your faith.
In particular, I greet all the young people who are here! They say that Albania is the youngest country in Europe and I want to say a word to you. I invite you to build your existence on Jesus Christ, on God: those who build with God at the foundation build on rock because He is always faithful, even if we are not always faithful (cf 2 Tm 2:13). Jesus knows this better than anyone else; when we make mistakes, he doesn't condemn us; rather he says to us: Go, and sin no more (Jn 8:11). Dear young people, you are the new generation, the new generation of Albanians, the future of your country. With the strength of the gospel and the example of your ancestors as well as the example of your martyrs, you will know how to say no to the idolatry of money - no to the idolatry of money! - no to false individualistic liberty, not to dependence and violence; and instead you will know how to say yes to the culture of encounter and solidarity, yes to beauty that is inseparable from goodness and truth; yes to life spent with great spirit but faithful in small things. In this way, you will build a better Albania and a better world in the footsteps of your ancestors.
We now turn to the Virgin Mother who is venerated here above all with the title of Our Lady of Good Counsel. I travel in spirit to her shrine at Scutari which is so precious to you and I confide to her the entire Church of Albania and all the Albanian people, especially the families, the children and the elderly who are the living memory of a people. May Our Lady guide your steps together with God, toward the hope that never disappoints.
The Angel of the Lord ....
At the conclusion of the Eucharistic celebration, the Archbishop of Tiranë-Durrës, His Excellency, Rrok K. Mirdita greeted and thanked the Pope. Then the Holy Father, Pope Francis went to the Apostolic Nunciature in Tirana where he met and shared lunch with the bishops of Albania.
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