"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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