"Since the moment your country freed itself from dictatorship, the ecclesial
communities in Albania have begun again to journey onward and to reorganise
pastoral ministry, looking to the future with hope. I am particularly grateful
to those pastors who paid a great price for their fidelity to Christ and for
their decision to remain united to the Successor of Peter. They were
courageous in the face of difficulty and trial. There are still priests and
religious among us who have experienced prison and persecution, like the
sister and brother who have told us their story. I embrace you warmly, and I
praise God for your faithful witness that inspires the whole Church to
continue to proclaim the Gospel with joy.
 "Treasuring this experience, the Church in Albania can grow in its missionary
and apostolic zeal. I know and appreciate the effort you make to oppose those
new forms of 'dictatorship' that threaten to enslave individuals and
communities. If the atheist regime sought to suffocate the faith, these new
forms of dictatorship, in a more insidious way, are able to suffocate charity.
I am referring to individualism, rivalry and heated conflicts: these are
worldly mentalities that can contaminate even the Christian community. We need
not be discouraged by these difficulties; do not be afraid to continue along
the path of the Lord. He is always at your side, he gives you his grace and he
helps you to sustain one another; to accept one another as you are, with
understanding and mercy; he helps you to deepen fraternal communion.
 "Evangelisation is more effective when it is carried out with oneness of
spirit and with sincere teamwork among the various ecclesial communities as
well as among missionaries and local clergy: this requires courage to seek out
ways of working together and offering mutual help in the areas of catechesis
and catholic education, as well as full human development and charity. In
these settings, the contribution of the ecclesial movements that know how to
work in communion with pastors is highly valuable. That is precisely what I
see before me: bishops, priests, religious and laity: a Church that desires to
walk in fraternity and unity. When love for Christ is placed above all else,
even above our legitimate particular needs, then we are able to move outside
of ourselves, of our personal or communal pettiness, and move towards Jesus
who, in our brothers and sisters, comes to us. His wounds are still visible
today on the bodies of so many men and women who are hungry and thirsty; who
are humiliated; who are in hospital or prison. By touching and caring for
these wounds with tenderness, it is possible to fully live the Gospel and to
adore God who lives in our midst.
 "When love for Christ is placed above all else, even above our legitimate
particular needs, then we are able to move outside of ourselves, of our
personal or communal pettiness, and move towards Jesus who, in our brothers
and sisters, comes to us. His wounds are still visible today on the bodies of
so many men and women who are hungry and thirsty; who are humiliated; who are
in hospital or prison. By touching and caring for these wounds with
tenderness, it is possible to fully live the Gospel and to adore God who lives
in our midst.
 "There are many problems that you encounter every day. These problems compel
you to immerse yourselves with fervour and generosity in apostolic work. And
yet, we know that by ourselves we can do nothing: 'Unless the Lord builds the
house, those who build it labour in vain'. This awareness calls us to give due
space for the Lord every day, to dedicate our time to him, open our hearts to
him, so that he may work in our lives and in our mission. That which the Lord
promises for the prayer made with trust and perseverance goes beyond what we
can imagine: beyond that which we ask for, God sends us also the Holy Spirit.
The contemplative dimension of our lives becomes indispensable even in the
midst of the most urgent and difficult tasks we encounter. The more our
mission calls us to go out into the peripheries of life, the more our hearts
feel the intimate need to be united to the heart of Christ, which is full of
mercy and love.
 "Considering the fact that the number of priests and religious is not yet
sufficient, the Lord Jesus repeats to you today 'The harvest is plentiful, but
the labourers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out
labourers into his harvest'. We must not forget that this prayer begins with a
gaze: the gaze of Jesus, who sees the great harvest. Do we also have this
gaze? Do we know how to recognise the abundant fruits that the grace of God
has caused to grow and the work that there is to be done in the field of the
Lord? It is by gazing with faith on the field of God that prayer springs
forth, namely, the daily and pressing invocation to the Lord for priestly and
religious vocations. Dear seminarians, postulants and novices, you are the
fruit of this prayer of the people of God, which always precedes and
accompanies your personal response. The Church in Albania needs your
enthusiasm and your generosity. The time that you dedicate today to a solid
spiritual, theological, communitarian and pastoral formation, is directed to
serving adequately the people of God tomorrow. The people, rather than seeking
experts, are looking for witnesses: humble witnesses of the mercy and
tenderness of God; priests and religious conformed to Jesus, the Good
Shepherd, who are capable of communicating the love of Christ to all people.
 "Together with you and the entire Albanian people, I want to give thanks to
God for the many missionaries whose activity was decisive for the renewal of
the Church in Albania and which continues to be of great importance to this
day. These missionaries have offered a significant contribution to the
consolidation of the spiritual patrimony that the Albanian bishops, priests,
consecrated religious and lay persons have preserved in the midst of difficult
trials and tribulations. Let us acknowledge the great work done by the
religious institutes for the revival of Catholic education: these efforts are
worth recognising and sustaining.
 "Dear brothers and sisters, do not be discouraged in the face of
difficulties. Following the footsteps of your fathers, be tenacious in giving
testimony to Christ, walking 'together with God, toward the hope that never
disappoints'. In your journey, rest assured that you are accompanied and
supported by the love of the whole Church. I thank you from the heart for this
meeting, and I entrust each one of you and your communities - your plans and
your hopes - to the holy Mother of God. I bless you from my heart and I ask
you, please, to pray for me".

___________________________________________________________

 Visit to the Bethany Centre: "Here faith becomes concrete charity"
 Vatican City, 21 September 2014 (VIS) - The final stage of Pope Francis'
apostolic trip to Albania was the visit to the Bethany Charitable Centre,
approximately thirty kilometres from Tirana. The centre, founded by the
Italian Antonietta Vitale in 1999, assists numerous disabled people and poor
or marginalised children, with the collaboration of a group of lay volunteers.
 "In places such as this we are all confirmed in the faith; each one is helped
in his or her belief, because we see the faith visibly expressed in practical
acts of charity. We see how faith brings light and hope in situations of grave
hardship", remarked Pope Francis in the address he gave in the church in the
Centre, dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua. "This faith, working through
charity, dislodges the mountains of indifference, of disbelief and of apathy.
... Through humble gestures and simple acts of service to the least among us,
the Good News that Jesus is risen and lives among us is proclaimed".
 "This Centre, furthermore, shows that it is possible to live together
peacefully and fraternally as people of different ethnicities and followers of
various religious confessions. Here differences do not prevent harmony, joy
and peace, but rather become opportunities for a greater mutual awareness and
understanding. ... Each religious community expresses itself through love and
not violence, and is never ashamed of showing goodness! The persons who
nourish goodness in their heart, find that such goodness leads to a peaceful
conscience and to profound joy even in the midst of difficulties and
misunderstandings. Even when affronted, goodness is never weak but rather,
shows its strength by refusing to take revenge. Goodness is its own reward and
draws us closer to God, who is the Supreme Good. ... Goodness offers
infinitely more than money, which only deludes, because we have been created
to receive the love of God and to offer it, not to measure everything in terms
of money or power".
 With regard to the volunteers who collaborate in the Centre, the Pope quoted
one of the children in the Bethany Centre, who said, "'For fifteen years now
they have sacrificed themselves joyfully out of love for Jesus and for us'.
This phrase reveals how making a gift of oneself for the love of Jesus gives
birth to joy and hope, and it also shows how serving one's brothers and
sisters is transformed into an experience of sharing God's kingdom. These
words ... might seem paradoxical to many in our world who are slow to grasp
their meaning and who frantically seek the key to existence in earthly riches,
possessions and amusements. What these people discover, instead, is
estrangement and bewilderment".
 The bishop of Rome emphasised that instead, "the secret to a good life is
found in loving and giving oneself for love's sake. From here comes the
strength to 'sacrifice oneself joyfully', and thus the most demanding work is
transformed into a source of a greater joy. In this way, there is no longer
any fear of making important choices in life, but they are seen for what they
are, namely, as the way to personal fulfilment in freedom".
 He concluded, "May your patron, St. Anthony, accompany you along the way. I
encourage you to continue faithfully serving the Lord Jesus in the poor and
abandoned, and to pray to Him so that the hearts and minds of all may be
opened to goodness, to charity shown in works, which is the source of real and
authentic joy".
 The Pope greeted the children and disabled persons present upon leaving the
church, and then transferred to Mother Teresa airport to depart for Rome. The
aircraft carrying the Holy Father landed shortly after 9.30 p.m.

___________________________________________________________

 Pope Francis recounts his emotional trip to Albania
 Vatican City, 22 September 2014 (VIS) - During his return flight to Rome, the
Holy Father responded to several questions posed by three Albanian journalists
who had covered his apostolic trip to Albania. The three questions, and Pope
Francis' answers, are published in full below.
 Q: "Did His Holiness set out with an idea in mind about Albanians and
Albania? Such as the Albanian who has suffered but is also tolerant. Has he
encountered any other quality in the Albanians, or are these the right
qualities to enable the eagle to return to the nest?"
 Pope Francis: "The Albanian is not only tolerant, he is a brother. He has the
capacity for fraternity, which is more. This can be seen in the co-existence
and collaboration between Muslims, Orthodox and Catholics. They collaborate,
but like brothers. And then, another aspect that struck me at the beginning is
the youth of the country - it is the youngest country in Europe. But you can
see that Albania has achieved a superior development in culture and
governance, thanks to this fraternal quality".
 Q: "Travelling along the central boulevard of Tirana, beneath the portraits
of the clerics martyred during the communist regime, in a country in which the
State imposed atheism until twenty-five years ago, what was your personal
feeling?"
 Pope Francis: "For two months I have been studying that difficult period in
the history of Albania, in order to understand it, and I have also studied
something of its origins. But you have had beautiful and strong cultural roots
since the beginning. It was a cruel period; the level of cruelty was terrible.
When I saw those photos - but not just the Catholics, also the Orthodox, and
Muslims .... and when I thought of the words said to them: 'But you must not
believe in God', to which they responded, 'I believe'... Boom! They killed
them. This is why I say that all three religious components have given witness
to God and now give witness to fraternity".
 Q: "Albania is a country with a Muslim majority. But your visit took place at
a moment in which the global situation is precarious. You yourself have
declared that the third world war has already begun. The message of your visit
is intended solely for Albania, or beyond?"
 Pope Francis: "No, it goes far beyond. Albania has constructed a path of
peace, co-existence and cooperation that goes far beyond, that touches other
countries that also have diverse ethnic roots. It is a country with a Muslim
majority, but it is not a Muslim country. It is a European country. Albania is
a European country in terms of her culture, the culture of coexistence, and
also for her cultural history".
 Q: "After Albania, where will your next trips be?"

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