Fr Emanuel Cutajar has been a parish priest in the north of Albania for 17 years. He has often found himself grappling with pastoral and social problems in four remote villages, mainly Catholic, in the Torovice valley. Here he gives a first-hand account of the situation in the country and his missionary work.

I often wonder how I ended up in Albania and how I ‘survived’ this long.  Albania is a country of contrasts, both enchanting and infuriating by turns. Its mountains, cliffs, lakes, rivers and beaches are spectacular, its traditions unique but its history, as that of all the Balkan countries, turbulent.

The country is still recovering from the dark, cruel days of the Communist regime. The atrocities perpetrated by the regime were devastating and dehumanising. The Catholic Church was systematically persecuted.

Slowly but surely, the Albanians are picking themselves up. They are incredibly resilient and stoically resigned to their fate in the face of innumerable sacrifices.

The authorities face numerous challenges, namely bureaucracy, corruption, lack of foreign investment and unemployment, among others. It is no wonder that many Albanians have lost faith in their institutions and more than one million have left the country, seeking a better future for themselves and their families.

I cannot think of any other reason why I continuously and willingly keep returning to my missionary work in Albania, except for its people, who are affable and hospitable.

Their way of living is disarmingly simple. Here I can hear the children play down in the street below. There are no inhibitions at all for the older altar boys to serve during Sunday Mass or to carry the statue of Our Lady shoulder-high during the annual procession that takes place in May. Indeed, they take great pride in wearing the appropriate vestments and vie for a prominent place on the altar.

Father Christmas distributing gifts to children in need.Father Christmas distributing gifts to children in need.

My parishioners still hold hands together as they recite the Our Father during Mass. They always have time for a chat and drop all their activity to help you.

In the Torovice valley, reclaimed from swamps, very few farmers own tractors to help them in their harvests, mainly maize and corn. Indeed, very few own cars or can afford to keep them. Donkeys are a main means of transport, especially to carry wood down from the surrounding, rather steep, mountains. Herds of sheep and goats graze on the sides of the mountains, under the watchful eye of the shepherds. Wolves are always at a striking distance. But the place is full of butterflies and birds, including nightingales, ever so rare on the European continent. In this rural environment, I feel as if I am living, all over again, my boyhood years in Gozo in the 1950s and 1960s.

In such an environment, the pastoral endeavours of the Church have been two-pronged: on one side providing the Catholic community with the religious services they were so blatantly denied and finally suppressed during the time of the regime and, on the other hand, with the help of Caritas and other charitable organisations, helping out those who are economically distressed.

If you cannot help a hundred families, at least help one family

A big role in the running of the Catholic Church is thankfully played by the various female religious congregations present, especially in the north of the country. Besides teaching Catechism and helping out the clergy in the daily  running of the parish, they are very much involved in voluntary work. Consequently, the people are particularly fond of the nuns, whom they easily link to St Teresa of Calcutta, who was born into a Kosovar Albanian family.

Nuns run clinics and hospitals, kindergartens and schools. They provide lodging for female students attending universities in the big towns. For example, the Sisters of Charity (Sisters of Mother Theresa) run two old people’s homes in Tirana, a home for disabled children in Shkoder and a home for girls with problems in Durres and Elbasan. The social services of the country are more than thankful to the sisters who gladly take up the most destitute.

One of the best medical schools in the country is annexed to the Our Lady of Good Counsel University, run by the Catholic Church. The Church has also set up technical schools, where students learn trades such as plumbing, electrical installation and mechanical engineering. The Don Bosco Social Centre of Tirana provides a primary and secondary school, a technical school, a vocational training centre and a youth centre. It is committed to train and educate youths, enabling them to gain a variety of skills. This can help them find work more easily and break the cycle of poverty they are born into.

Masses on Sundays are well attended, especially by young people, in  all four small villages along the Torovice valley that make up my parish.

I am particularly busy during the Christmas season and Easter festivities.  The Franciscan Sisters, working in the parish, provide  Catechism classes to children and adolescents who are preparing to receive the sacraments of baptism, Confirmation and Holy Communion.

The statue of Our Lady is paraded in Torovice during an annual procession.The statue of Our Lady is paraded in Torovice during an annual procession.

The parishioners come to seek advice on just about everything. Thankfully, I rely on the sisters to deal with conflicts, especially when these degenerate into blood feuds. In the north of Albania, these feuds are becoming rare but are not uncommon.

I also strive to do my little bit to help those in dire need. With the help of Maltese benefactors, a sponsorship scheme has been launched to cater for the lodging expenses of our university students who study in Tirana and Shkoder, and also pay for the transport of secondary school students who travel daily to the nearby small towns.

Three times a year, 150 families are given food hampers and clothes. Very often, I am asked to help out the poor families to cope with electricity bills and medical treatment, not least dental care, so badly lacking in this part of the country. A drop in the ocean, but it helps. And the people appreciate it.

St Teresa once said: “If you cannot help a hundred families, at least help one family.” This is so true. It is also one way of showing our solidarity with those in dire need. Of course, it is to be said the Church cannot substitute the social services provided by the State, but it helps.

The Mission Fund of Mosta sponsors many diverse projects where Maltese missionary priests operate and has contributed €2,000 towards charitable work in Albania. The Mission Fund can be supported by donations online, or by bank transfers on one of these accounts: 061 197 448 050 (HSBS), 163 007 980 19 (BOV), 200 008 207 62 (APS), JEW 000 879 631 01 (BANIF). More information can be obtained from the www.missionfund.org.mt.

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