gathered in the Albanian capital Tirana to inaugurate a new cathedral on Saturday, January 26. The British Broadcasting Corporation quoted Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, as saying that the event was an "historic day" for Albanian Catholic believers.
Tirana Cathedral was built to replace several earlier historical cathedrals in Tirana, that were destroyed by communists who declared Albania an atheist state in 1967. In addition many buildings were changed into atheist museums and monuments to glorify than Communist leader Enver Hoxha.
"FOREIGN INVADERS"
Bunkers build to protect the country against "foreign invaders" still litter the landscape of this mainly Muslim nation. Only one cathedral is said to have survived in Shkodra, about 80 kilometres north of the Capital, the BBC said.
Saturday’s inauguration came too late for many: Under Hoxha hundreds of church leaders and representatives of other religious faiths were killed or slowly tortured and detained in prisons and labour camps.
Although the 1992 elections ended 47 years of Communist rule and religious persecution, analysts say that many people still do not want to admit they are believers.
ALBANIAN CHRISTIANS
According to official statistics about one third of the country’s nearly 3.5 million people are Christians, but it is not clear how many born again believers are among them. About 13 percent of Albanians are Catholic, while the rest belongs to Orthodox or a variety of Protestant churches and congregations.
Over 60 percent of the population in Albania, described as "one of Europe’s poorest nations," is said to follow Islam. There are evangelical missionary workers in the small Balkan country, but their activities have often suffered under criminal gangs that mushroomed since the collapse of Communism.
Hundreds of thousands of weapons are still in private hands, following the looting of army barracks in 1997 during anti-Government riots, which broke out after failed pyramid investment schemes.
