Imzot Frano Illia was born in the village of Juban, near Shkodër, on 21 February 1918. He was ordained a priest on 18 December 1943. He served in Tirana, Shkodër, Milot and the surrounding areas. In 1967 he was arrested, and on 25 April 1968 he was sentenced to death. A landmark date in his life is 25 April 1993, for exactly 25 years after that sentence, which had been commuted to life imprisonment, he was ordained a bishop by Pope John Paul II himself during his unforgettable and historic visit to Albania.
Imzot Frano Illia thus became the first post-dictatorship Metropolitan Archbishop of Shkodër. He also earned the title of Professor for his tireless work in collecting and codifying the Kanun of Skanderbeg, a work that appeared in print many years after it had been prepared for publication. Yet he always remained a simple priest, Dom Franoja, a man who devoted his whole life to the altar and to the national culture, to Faith and Fatherland.
He insistently urged Catholics to sanctify their lives and to cultivate culture. He served holiness and culture all his life, carrying out his priestly mission with the greatest care and love, on the one hand ever faithful to the Gospel of Christ and on the other never letting the pen fall from his hand. He thus left behind a work that continues to serve his nation and his people, “The Kanun of Skanderbeg”.
We recall that Imzot Frano Illia, author of “The Kanun of Skanderbeg”, was a man of dialogue, peace and harmony. He also left behind the example of a tireless worker for ecumenism, of a priest who throughout his life cooperated with his brothers of other faiths for the common good and in the name of national unity.
Following in the footsteps of the national and Christian tradition among Albanians, Imzot Franoja not only did not hesitate to speak of sincere brotherhood and of preserving coexistence in Shkodër and in Albania, but also personally organised the protection of the places of worship of the northern city, inviting representatives of the Islamic community to guard the churches and sending his own Catholic priests to protect the mosques of Shkodër. This was a singular event in the history of the Albanian nation, recorded in the annals of the unrest of 1997.
Archbishop Frano Illia lived by the motto: “Even if they were to promise me a hundred lives, I would not want a single one of them at the price of denying the faith”. It is a motto that has lost none of its relevance today. He died on 22 October 1997.
(from Vatican News)