History
1467 is the year in which, as a result of a Turkish attack, the town was abandoned and its inhabitants moved up the hill, inside the castle, where they lived until 1479. It is the year in which the tradition of Shkodër remembers the departure of the Holy Image of Our Lady of Good Counsel. It is the year in which it appeared in Genazzano, accompanied by two men of Shkodër, Gjergji and De Sklavis.
After the peace treaty of 25 January 1479 it was no longer possible to obtain news that could prove the departure of the Holy Image and the tradition connected with it in Shkodër.
For a long time, therefore, it was not possible to obtain accurate information about the local Albanian tradition concerning the departure either. It was impossible because all foreigners were viewed with suspicion. Around the middle of the eighteenth century things began to move, and some steps were taken by people who could provide more detailed information.
Two years later, in 1747, there was in Rome, in the church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli, where the novena for the canonisation of St Peter Regalado was being celebrated, Kola, son of Ndoc Kamsi, “a nobleman of the City of Shkodër and benefactor of nine churches situated near the aforesaid City”…
Later we also have other testimonies, among them that of Father Giampiero da Bergamo O.F.M., Pontifical Prefect of the Missions of Kastrati and Guardian of the Franciscan friary of this city, dated 16 July 1878, which gives an interesting and detailed description of the ruins of the church. One detail worth noting is a recess whose dimensions corresponded to those of the venerated painting now in Genazzano.
On 17 December 1878 Imzot Engjëll Radoja, Vicar General of Shkodër, issued another important testimony concerning the location of the church, described as a small chapel, in which the “Image of Our Lady of Shkodër” was kept.
The Third Council of Arbën (1895) proposed as protectress and patroness of Albania the Virgin Mother of Good Counsel, commonly known as Our Lady of Shkodër. This decision was taken unanimously and submitted to the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIII, who gave his approval, and 26 April was proclaimed a feast day for the dioceses of Albania.
Only after the proclamation of independence from the Turkish yoke (28 November 1912) could the rebuilding of the Shrine dedicated to the venerated Our Lady of Shkodër begin. The works began in 1917, at the height of the First World War.
On 23–26 April 1917 the 450th anniversary of the departure of the Holy Image from Shkodër was solemnly celebrated.
The land on which the ruins of the ancient shrine stood was donated by the High Command of the Austrian XIX Army Corps to the Archdiocese of Shkodër. To make this act legal, a deed of ownership was drawn up and, on 7 July 1917, handed over to the Archbishop of Shkodër, Imzot Jak Serreqi. Then, on 31 July, the first stone was blessed.
From 1944 dark times came for the Church and for the Albanian nation. The communist state, Marxist-Leninist and therefore atheist, attacked with fury everything that represented Catholicism in Albania. The Shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel met the same fate and suffered “cultural” barbarism. Not only was the building destroyed, but the remains of the Archbishop of Shkodër, Jak Serreqi, who had been buried inside the church, were dug up and thrown into the nearby river.
With the return of the rule of law in Albania, the collapse of the communist regime and the establishment of the long-awaited democracy, continuous and intensive work began to rebuild everything that could be saved. Thus the Shrine of Our Lady of Shkodër was also to be reborn, to the same design and dimensions as before its demolition. This holy place of worship found its patron in an Albanian, Imzot Simeone Duca, of the Arbëresh colony of Borgo Erizzo near Zadar, a colony of Albanians since the eighteenth century.
(from the booklet “Shenjtnorja e Zojës së Shkodrës” by Willy Kamsi)
On 25 April 1993 the foundation stone was blessed by Pope John Paul II, who also gave us the authentic copy of the Image of Our Lady that is venerated in the Shrine.
At the initiative of Archbishop Imzot Frano Illia the rebuilding works began. After the appointment of Imzot Angelo Massafra as Apostolic Administrator, assisted by Mons. Lucjan Avgustini, parish priest of the Cathedral, the works were speeded up until the dedication of the Shrine, which took place on 24 May 1998 at the hands of Cardinal Jozef Tomko, Prefect of the Congregation “Propaganda Fide”.
On 25 April 2023 the Shrine was twinned with the Basilica-Shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Genazzano, near Rome.
On 22 April 2024 the Shrine was honoured by Pope Francis with the title of Minor Basilica.
The Shrine of Our Lady of Shkodër in the face of the storms of history (15th–20th centuries)
Prayer of Pope John Paul II to Our Lady of Shkodër
Our Lady of Shkodër, Patroness of Albania, our sweet Mother! You, in whose heart flows the blood of your people: turn your eyes upon this nation, which had the good fortune to receive the first teaching of the Gospel from the lips of the Apostles, and which has always honoured you with pure filial love.
Today too, in the darkness of trial, this nation turns to you full of hope and awaits your motherly help.
You lead the Church on her pilgrimage of faith: cast your eyes upon the sons and daughters of Albania, who journey on burdened with trials and sufferings.
Strengthen the weak, console the afflicted, keep faith alive in the hearts of all!
Mother of the Redeemer, bless the Christian families, which form the heart of the Church of your divine Son.
Mother of hope, hasten the day on which this noble people will see all the deep longings of its soul fulfilled once more, when all its sons and daughters will be able to unite in full harmony to rebuild the future in justice and peace! Amen.