FACE TO FACE WITH A MARTYR CHURCH

Catholic Church in Tirana, Albania

 

Face to Face With a Martyr Church

Monsignor Tejado on Beginning Priestly Ministry in Albania

ROME, SEPT. 6, 2011 (Zenit.org).-
The Church in Albania suffered massive and violent persecution under
the communist dictator Enver Hoxa. Yet, communism -- unlike secularism
-- was unable to take God out of people's hearts, says a Vatican aide
who began his priestly ministry in Albania.

Monsignor Segundo
Tejado Muñoz, undersecretary of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum,
remembers his first priestly assignment in Albania as the best time of
his life.

He spoke with the television
program "Where God Weeps" of the Catholic Radio and Television Network
(CRTN) in cooperation with Aid to the Church in Need, about what a
priest should learn from ministering to those who've risked their lives
for the faith.

Q: You came to Albania just after the death of Enver Hoxa. What was your experience at that time?

Monsignor Tejado: I came to Albania to work there and to help and
provide help with the first stages of establishing the Church just after
the fall of communism. I knew nothing about Albania because Spain had
few relations with the Balkans. My experience was wonderful -- difficult
but wonderful. I understood that the Lord had called me to go to
Albania. Albania is very poor and I found the people helpful; many times
in communist countries the people are against the faith, but not in
Albania. People respected my position as a priest. It was the beginning
of the Church. The Pope arrived there in 1994 and he consecrated the
first bishops. It was a very good experience but also difficult because
the Church was persecuted, and so to begin again, to begin speaking
about Jesus, to speak about the Lord and to organize the whole Church.

Q: What wonders did you see when you came to Albania?

Monsignor Tejado: I saw a population and a Church that suffered a lot
during the communist times but the persecution did not destroy
something in their hearts. That something was about heaven. They say
that during the communist era heaven was closed.

Q: The country was totally atheistic. How is it that there were still seeds of faith?

Monsignor Tejado: Communism could not destroy hope in the people. In
our countries, secularization has destroyed this hope in our hearts. In
these countries under communism, the sense of God remained. You can
speak about God with these people, in a way in which you cannot in our
secularized societies, because people find neither God nor their faith
that important or interesting. The people who were under communist
regimes are able to discuss and are open, with their hearts, about God.

Q: Was there a severe persecution of Albanian Catholics?

Monsignor Tejado: Yes, the Church in Albani is a martyr Church. They
remained in union with St. Peter, with the Pope and it was very
important to them. Enver Hoxa asked the Catholic Church in Albania to
become a national church like in China, but the bishops and priests
refused: "We shall remain in union with Peter, with the Pope" and
because of this, they were persecuted and had a terrible situation.

Q: Did these witnesses affect your vocation as a priest?

Monsignor Tejado: Yes! When you speak to the persecuted, something
remains with you. You come face to face with a person who has risked his
life for the Lord; this is very important for a priest -- to risk your
life for the Lord and for the Church.

Q: What risks have you taken for the Lord?

Monsignor Tejado: Each day as a priest I'm called to risk my life for
the Lord; to do his will. It is a spiritual experience. If you meet a
person who has taken the risk not just for a day but for life, for the
Lord, you ask yourself why you cannot do the same and offer your life
completely for the Lord. This is very important for a priest -- not just
for a priest but also for every Christian.

Q: Have you left a part of yourself in Albania?

Monsignor Tejado: Half of my heart. I was there for nine years. It
was my first assignment as a priest and being my first destination, I
remember it very fondly. It was a very nice period of my life -- the
best, I think, really, and also because of the difficulties, the
crosses, that the Lord permitted in my life. It made me humble and to be
humble, you know ...

Q: Mother Teresa comes from Albania. How important is she for the Catholic Church there?

Monsignor Tejado: Mother Teresa is a very important figure for all of
us. She was born in Skopje, the Albanian part of Macedonia. For the
Albanians, she is very special because after the fall of communism,
Albanians were losing hope. Mother Teresa's message, "Nothing is
impossible for God," is a message that I take from here, and it is also a
message for all people. If we have these kinds of models for our lives
then nothing is impossible for us if we are with the Lord. The visit of
the Pope and Mother Teresa was, as Albanians say, like heaven opening
once more. The communist era closed heaven to the people; Mother Teresa
and the Pope opened heaven again.

* * *




This interview was conducted by Mark Riedemann for “Where God Weeps,"
a weekly TV & radio show produced by Catholic Radio &
Television Network in conjunction with the international Catholic
charity Aid to the Church in Need.




--- --- ---




On the Net:


Where God Weeps: www.WhereGodWeeps.org


Aid to the Church in Need: www.acn-intl.org