Cardinal Ernest Simoni, the Albanian priest whose long suffering under communism made him one of the most striking living witnesses to the persecuted Church in Europe, has presented Pope Leo XIV with a relic of the Albanian martyrs during a private audience at the Vatican. The meeting, held on April 26 and attended by around 40 members of the cardinal’s family, was marked by recollection of the Church’s endurance under one of the 20th century’s harshest atheist regimes.
According to Vatican media, the 97-year-old cardinal offered the Pope both a cross and a relic of those Albanian Catholics who died for their fidelity to Christ. Simoni said the martyrs had given their lives “out of fidelity and love for Jesus” and for the salvation of the Albanian people, presenting their witness as a testimony not only to suffering but to hope.
