TIRANA – An added evidence of the exemplary religious harmony in Albania has been the message to the Muslim believers on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr celebration by Cardinal Ernest Simoni Troshani quoted by local media on Sunday.
The Cardinal considered the Day a show of love for God but also as a moment for unification and consecration.
Following many congratulations by different public figures, there was another one for Albanian Muslims also from Albanian cardinal, Ernest Simoni Troshani, who wished them good health, well-being, love and unification.
“It is the day to show the love for God. I wish you Muslim brothers of Albania good health, well-being, love and be united. Eid al-Fitr is the day of consecration. The Great God will give peace, prosperity and health to all those who love him,” said the Cardinal.
Ernest Simoni was born in 1928. On 24 December 1963 he was imprisoned by the Communist authorities because he celebrated a Mass in memory of assassinated President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. He was sentenced to death, but the sentence was converted into a prison term and he spent 28 years at penal labor, first in a mine and then in a sewage canal.
On 21 September 2014 he met Pope Francis during his apostolic visit to Albania and provided the pope with his own testimony on his experiences under the Communist regime.
On 9 October 2016, Pope Francis announced that he would create Simoni a cardinal in the consistory held on 19 November of the same year. He was given special dispensation not to be consecrated a bishop prior to the consistory. At the consistory, he was assigned the titular church of Santa Maria della Scala.
Eid al-Fitr was celebrated with early morning prayers in Tirana and other parts of Albania on Sunday with the main ceremony taking place at the mosque of “Kokonoz” at Pazari i Ri (New Bazaar) in the Capital led by the chairman of the Muslim Community, Bujar Spahiu. /argumentum.al
