The Past of the Archdiocese of Shkodër-Pult
Church organisation in Praevalitana
Traces of Christianity in the neighbouring province of Dalmatia date back to the 1st century. For that period one can speak only of a few church communities or congregations, which in the 2nd century came together into a diocese centred on the city of Salona. After the Edict of Milan of 313, the dioceses began to flourish, to develop more vigorously and to be organised as territorial church structures, following the political and administrative organisation of the time. Although no written documents survive on the beginnings of Christianity in the Roman province of Praevalitana, the same process certainly took place there as in the neighbouring provinces of Dalmatia and Epirus Nova. In all likelihood, from the 1st to the 3rd century Christianity in Praevalitana was a sporadic phenomenon.
From the 3rd century onwards, the organisation of the Christian Church in Praevalitana can be traced, on the basis of archaeological and written evidence, mainly in two cities, Shkodër and Doclea, and in their immediate surroundings.
According to the archaeological evidence, the earliest traces of Christianity in the province of Praevalitana are found in the village of Lohe, near the town of Koplik in northern Albania, where a Christian cemetery from the 3rd century has been uncovered, and on a funerary stele from the second half of the 4th century at Kolovrat, near the town of Prijepolje, which shows the coexistence of paganism and Christianity within a single family.
At the other archaeological sites where remains of the various cultures of the province’s main cities, Shkodër and Doclea, have been uncovered, no remains of church buildings have yet been found that could give us important and valuable information on church organisation in this province up to the 4th century. From the 4th century onwards, however, excavations at Doclea have revealed two basilicas from the early Christian period. In the coastal towns of Lezhë, Ulcinj and Bar, as well as in smaller places such as Lohe, Shirq and Oblikë (west of Shkodër), the remains of various basilicas from the 4th to the 6th century have been uncovered, as well as the foundations of a Benedictine monastery.
From the written sources of Church history it is known that from the 4th century the Church also developed a territorial organisation, following the political and administrative organisation of the time. The political metropolis was usually at the same time the ecclesiastical metropolis of the episcopal cities of the province. According to this principle, Salona (a city near Split) for Dalmatia and Shkodër for Praevalitana also became the church centres of metropolitan archdioceses. This is best seen in the well-known work Illyricum Sacrum by Daniele Farlati and Jacopo Coleti, which lists the names of all the other bishops of the Illyrian-Albanian provinces, where there were roughly nineteen dioceses: in Epirus Vetus, with its metropolis at Nicopolis; in Epirus Nova, with its metropolis at Durrës; in Praevalitana, with its metropolis at Shkodër; and in Dardania, with its metropolis at Skopje (Scupi).
In volume VII of Farlati’s “Illyricum Sacrum”, the first bishop of Ulcinj, without his actual name, is mentioned in the year 877. Of the other Albanian dioceses in Praevalitana in the 6th century, Lezhë (Lissus-Alessio) is mentioned in 592 and Bar (Antivari) in 599, while Drisht (Drivasto), a place north of Shkodër, is known before 458.
Shkodër as an archdiocese – the year 387
While the Metropolis of Salona was directly under the Patriarchate of Rome, the Metropolis of Shkodër was under the Apostolic Vicariate of Thessalonica in the 4th century, which had jurisdiction over the whole prefecture of Eastern Illyricum, represented at that time by Bishop Rufus. For Shkodër, as the capital of the province of Praevalitana, D. Farlati and J. Coleti, in volume VII of “Illyricum Sacrum”, mention Bassus in 387 as the first bishop of the metropolis. He is also mentioned in a letter of Pope Siricius (384–399) around the year 381. There follow the archbishops Senecio in 431, Andreas in 519, Stephanus in 590 and Joannes in 598, while Constantius, in 601, is mentioned as the last archbishop. At the Council of Chalcedon of 451, among others, we find for the first time in the Diocese of Doclea Bishop Evander (Evandrus), in 450. Historiography, however, has not preserved the necessary details of the diocese’s history and the names of its bishops up to the 9th century, apart from the name of Paulus in 590 and of Nemesion in 602. Likewise, for five centuries in succession, history says nothing of the fate of the Metropolis of Shkodër itself until 1141, when in its see we no longer find a metropolitan but a simple bishop named Georgius.
Seeing that some dioceses of Eastern Illyricum had embraced the Byzantine Church, on 8 January 1089 the Papacy, under Clement III, issued in Rome the bull “Quia divina pietas” (Because divine mercy) addressed to Peter, Bishop of Bar, “Petro Diocliensis sedis Archiepiscopo” (to Peter, Archbishop of the See of Doclea), by which it established a separate ecclesiastical province for Doclea; that is, it revived the former metropolis, gave it a new form, turned it into the Metropolis of Doclea-Bar and granted it the power to appoint the bishops of the province of Doclea in perpetuity. Thus, out of the old and the new, a single metropolitan Church with ten dioceses was created. Not counting the Diocese of Doclea-Bar, the bull placed nine other dioceses under the Metropolitan of Bar: Kotor (Scatarensem), Ulcinj (Dulchinensem), Shas (Saucinensem), Shkodër (Scodrensem), Drisht (Drivastinensem), Pult (Polatinensem), Serbia (Serbiensem), Bosnia (Bosniensem) and Trebinje (Tribensem), with the churches and all that belonged to them, and the monasteries, of the Dalmatians as well as of the Greeks and the Slavs.
The Diocese of Shkodër under Ottoman rule
In the Diocese of Shkodër (Scodra, Scodrien, Scutarum, Shkodra, Iskanderie), which has existed since the most ancient times – the year 387 – we find a record from the second half of the 15th century that there were 26 Islamised families. The first church that the Turks turned into a mosque after the capture of the castle of Shkodër (1478–1479), located outside the castle walls, was the church of “Our Lady of Good Counsel” (Madonna del Buon Consiglio), which in 1478 the Turks named the Mosque of Sultan Mehmed II. A little later the Turks turned another church, also located outside the castle walls, into a mosque and called it “Kasem Ali Sultania”. In 1479 the Cathedral Church of St Stephen the Martyr, which stood inside the castle, suffered the same fate as the two previous churches.
Thus, after the final fall of Shkodër, and despite the efforts of the Dominican Fr Bartoli of Epirus to calm the situation, the population scattered in fear, fleeing in whatever directions they could. To Venice alone 3,300 Catholics fled.
After Turkish rule was consolidated and Sultan Selim II issued his order of 1569 that throughout the Empire, except in Constantinople, Bursa and Adrianople, all church property should be confiscated, the situation in the Diocese of Shkodër, the Archdiocese of Bar and the others grew even worse, as the Turks seized almost all the property and goods of the Church. On the other hand, the number of churches turned into mosques grew in the parishes, as did the number of Catholics who converted to Islam. Thus, day by day, the ever-wider spread of Islamisation became more and more evident.
According to the report of Cardinal Santori of 15 July 1590, published in “La Civiltà Cattolica”, by order of the Turkish authorities the bishops of Shkodër did not dare to govern the diocese from its former centre, but had to do so from one of the surrounding parishes. Thus, according to this report, the Diocese of Shkodër was governed from the old Albanian Benedictine monastery of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, Martyrs (S. S. Martyrum Sergii et Bachi), which Thallóczy says dates from the 6th century. The antiquity of this monastery was also mentioned on the occasion of the consecration of the Catholic church of Kotor on 19 June 1166, where it is stated, among other things: “Majo episccopus (Chalharensis) cum episcopis Lazzaro Albanensi et cum Martino Drivastensi et cum Johanne episcopo Dulcinensi, adiunctis abbatibus…et Petro abbate (archimandrita) sanctorum Sergii et Bachi…ecclesiam sancti Trifonis consecrat…” (Majo, Bishop of Kotor (Chaharensis), with Bishop Lazarus of Arbanon, with Martin of Drisht and with John, Bishop of Ulcinj, together with the abbots… and Peter, abbot (archimandrite) of Saints Sergius and Bacchus… consecrates the church of St Tryphon). The Turks, however, soon fell upon this monastery too. It stood 15 miles from Shkodër on the lower course of the Buna, on its left bank, in the village of Shirq, and according to the church’s inscription it had been rebuilt in 1290 by the Catholic Queen Helen, styled Queen of Serbia, Doclea, Albania, Dalmatia…, wife of Stefan Uroš I (1237–1272). According to the testimony of the Bishop of Shkodër, Francisco Borci, from 1790, this church was the most beautiful in all Albania. Likewise, according to the Holy See’s visitor, Archbishop Marin Bizzi of Bar, in 1610 this magnificent church could hold 3,000 people. Under the Turkish occupation the church was wrecked inside and completely plundered.
Towards the end of the 16th century the Turks razed to the ground this sanctuary (temple), which for a long time had been the site of a “panairio S. Sergii de Zenta” (fair of St Sergius of Zenta). There are some indications that the church was restored in 1602. This is recalled in the writing of the Bishop of Shkodër, Dominicus Babichius, who, because of the Turkish ban on carrying out his activities in Shkodër, held two diocesan synods at this place, in 1679 and 1682.
According to the Holy See’s visitor, Archbishop Shtjefën Gaspri of Durrës, in his report of 8 September 1671, which the friar Benedikt Dema has analysed in detail, the situation in the Diocese of Shkodër was growing worse day by day. What Archbishop Gaspri wrote was nothing out of the ordinary, since this, as well as the number of Catholics in the diocese, was also reported by other visitors, such as Marin Bizzi in 1610, Giorgio Bianchi (Gjergj Bardhi) in 1621, Benedetto Ursini in 1628, Fr Bonaventura di Palazzo in 1634 and very many others.
According to the report of Fr Domenico Andriasco of 1623 and the report of Shtjefën Gaspri of 1671, the Diocese of Shkodër was divided into two parts: the upper, mountainous part and the lower, lowland part. Not all the parishes in the diocese had parish priests, especially in its upper part. For fear of being killed and of other dangers, the priests were concentrated in larger centres, from which they looked after the parishes without priests. According to the visitor, Archbishop S. Gaspri, the centres of the priests in the upper part of the diocese (the mountain areas) were these: Rrjoll, where at that time the Holy See’s missionary, Fr Clemente of Brindisi, a Reformed Franciscan, was in charge and cared as shepherd for about 10 large villages grouped into parishes, with a total of 315 houses and 2,479 souls; Hoti, where the missionaries Fr Leone da Cittadella and Fr Angelo Milanese were in charge, with 416 houses and 2,580 souls; and Gruda, where Fr Bartolomeo da Urbino and Fr Domenico dalle Grotta were in charge, with 306 houses and 2,500 souls.
These missionaries, and many others, came among the Albanian faithful because of the lack of local priests and religious, and because of the very great need to preserve the Catholic faith, which under Turkish terror was growing weaker day by day as Catholics converted to Islam in great numbers. Seeing this situation, the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (De Propaganda Fide, founded in 1622), at the request of the Bishop of Sapa, Giorgio Bianchi (Gjergj Bardhi), began in 1634 to send Reformed Franciscan missionaries from Italy to Albania; they reached occupied Albania by way of Venice.
The parishes in the district of Shkodër, which stretched along the banks of the Buna towards the sea, on both its eastern and its western side, were for the most part “covered” by parish priests – local priests, called diocesan priests. Thus, according to the visitor Sh. Gaspri, this part of the diocese had 15 local priests and 1,050 houses with 11,734 souls. In 1671 the whole diocese had 2,097 houses with 19,293 souls.
The fortunes and misfortunes of this Church were at the same time the fortunes and misfortunes of this people and of the people of northern Albania. This came about with the capture of Rozafa Castle and the conversion of the city’s Cathedral Church into a mosque in the 15th century, for the spiritual needs of the Ottoman soldiers and later of the Islamised Albanians. In 1451 the Bishop’s house was in the city, next to the cathedral church dedicated to St Stephen, the First Martyr. According to Gjush Sheldija, the ruins of this church, which had been transformed into the Musllupi Mosque, could be seen covered in earth until 1950.
Of interest for the monastery and for the history of the Catholic Church is also the report of Cardinal Santori to the council of his colleagues on 15 July 1590, in which, among other things, he stressed .. “that in Shkodër there is the cathedral, dedicated to St Stephen, the First Martyr, which the Turks have turned into a mosque, and no Catholic is allowed to remain in the city”.
During the first two centuries of Ottoman rule, the bishops and parish priests could not live inside the city, but were forced to live in the villages of Shirq and Barbullush. In 1656 Imzot Pjetër Bogdani lived in the Cave of Rrjoll and in that of Juban. In the time of the parish priest Pal Kamsi, in 1737, the parish house of Shkodër was in the Tophanë quarter (the place where the Ottomans produced the cannonballs for attacking the castle), and next to it stood the Church of St Nicholas by the Kërçira Bridge, which had been turned into a mosque. In 1917 a holy water font was found in this mosque; it is kept in the Historical Museum of Shkodër.
According to the baptismal register, in the time of Pal Kamsi there were 181 families in the city of Shkodër, some of whom had come from the villages around the city.
In 1745, when Dom Lazër Kançi was parish priest, the centre of the city parish was in Tophanë. The church was dedicated to St Dominic (Shën Deda) and had 150 houses with 680 faithful, including the village of Rrëmaj, not far from the city, which had 16 houses with 96 Catholics. In the city there were also 7 houses of laramanë (people who lived a double religious life: in public they presented themselves as Muslims, while at home they kept the rites of the Catholic faith ) with 33 faithful. The schoolteacher in Tophanë was Jak Kolë Kamsi. Several diocesan synods were held in the parish house of Tophanë, namely on 11 November 1757, 26 January 1785, 8 February 1787 and others.
The first bishop to settle in Shkodër, in 1742, was Imzot Pal Pema Kamsi (1742–1771). During his 29 years as bishop with his see in the city, he also administered the Church of Bar for a few years.
Depending on the political and social situation, and in order to be closer to the Catholic faithful, who were oppressed and under pressure to convert to Islam, the parishes were reorganised several times between the 18th and the 20th century.
In 1745 the diocesan parishes were grouped into the parish areas of Nënshkodra, Mbishkodra and the Missions of the Franciscan Fathers.
In 1777 the diocese had 18 parishes. In 1849, according to the report of Imzot Ivan Topiq to Propaganda Fide in Rome, the number of parishes was 25. With the new reorganisation of the diocese in 1877–1893 the number of parishes rose to 30.
Following the territorial changes decided by the Great Powers at the Congress of Berlin (1878), and later as well, some parishes of the Diocese of Shkodër were separated from its ecclesiastical jurisdiction. These were the parishes belonging to the area of Ulcinj and the parishes of Malësia e Tuzit.
Under Turkish rule Catholics were also deprived of places of worship. The occupiers did not allow churches to be built. In 1849 the whole Diocese of Shkodër had 14 churches and 6 religious hospices (shelters for the poor) of the Reformed Fathers, O.F.M.; of these, 6 churches belonged to the Mission of Kastrati, while 11 other parishes had no religious buildings at all. Thousands of Catholics celebrated Mass in the open air.
The building of Shkodër Cathedral
After the Austro-Hungarian protectorate was strengthened, the faithful of Shkodër asked for the Cathedral Church and the Archbishop’s Residence to be built in Serreq, where they still stand today.
At the request of the faithful of Shkodër, the firman (permit) for the building of the church was granted by the Sultan in 1851.
For lack of funds, work began only seven years later, on 7 April 1858. After the cross had been set up where the high altar stands today and the stakes had been driven in, the Vali of Shkodër, Avdi Pasha, read the firman (decree) of Sultan Abdülmecid permitting the building of the Cathedral, and handed over 700 (seven hundred) Turkish gold lira as a gift from him. The church was built “..on the field of Marin Gjonej, who donated the land”.
Imzot Ivan Topiq (1853–1859), a Franciscan from Split, blessed the first foundation stone at the corner of the church, where a triangular stone can still be seen set into the wall, bearing an eye and the words carved in Italian: “Dio vede tutto” (God sees everything). Present at this ceremony were Dom Engjëll Radoja, parish priest of the city, with other assistant priests: Dom Engjëll Tanushi, Dom Mëhill Maraqi, Dom Zef Paci (Shestani) and Dom Simon Berisha; Hafiz Daut Efendi Boriçi; the consular corps accredited in Shkodër; the bishops of the suffragan dioceses; the religious and secular clergy; the deacons of the Diocesan Seminary; the notables and the people. A text published by the late Gjush Sheldija also gives the names of some 170 people present at this ceremony.
The historic moment of the blessing of the Cathedral’s first stone was immortalised in 1968 in the painting of the same name by the painters Simon Rrota and Dom Injac Dema.
For the building of the church Pope Pius IX donated 1,000 (one thousand) gold scudi and the Emperor of Austria, Franz Joseph, 150 (one hundred and fifty) gold napoleons. Nor did the women of Shkodër hold back: as the people say, they “took the gold from their necks and threw it into the foundations”.
The Cathedral Church of Shkodër was called by the people the Great Church (Kisha e Madhe), since at the time it was built it was one of the largest churches in the Balkans. The people wanted it as large as “the Duomo of Milan”.
The dimensions of the church are: length 74.50 m; width 23.50 m; height 23.50 m. The church was designed to hold 4,000 faithful seated and 2,000 standing, and as many as 7,000 people if all the side spaces are used.
A special commission was set up to supervise the works. The site engineer was an Austrian. The metal roof trusses were also brought from Austria. It is said that during construction the dome of the church collapsed twice. The architect Arsen Idromeno worked on the wooden ceiling. Besides the high altar, five other altars were built, such as those of the Blessed Sacrament, St Mary Magdalene, St Lawrence, St Anthony, the Heart of Christ and St Nicholas. The altars were built with the help of benefactors from Shkodër.
The building of the church took seven years. It was completed and consecrated in 1865 by the Archbishop of Shkodër, Imzot Luigj Çurçia (1859–1866), a Franciscan from Ragusa (Dubrovnik), and dedicated to “Our Lady of Good Counsel”, while the Archdiocese was dedicated to St Stephen, the First Martyr.
Shkodër – Metropolitan Archdiocese
What stands out as an important event for the Albanian Church in the 19th century is the action of the Holy See, which, because of the demands of the situation on the ground, and in order to recognise once and for all the centuries-long fidelity of the Church of Shkodër to the Church of Rome and to increase its responsibility for the future, by the papal letter of Pius IX of 15 March 1867 honoured the Diocese of Shkodër by raising it to the rank of archdiocese and metropolis. Thus, in the time of the Metropolitan Karl Pooten (1867–1886), from Trier, Cologne – Germany, the residential see was moved from Bar to Shkodër, taking the title: Metropolitan Archbishop of Bar and Shkodër and Primate (of Serbia).
While Pooten was governing this archdiocese, the Jesuits continued their religious and cultural work with even greater intensity. In 1870 they founded the first printing house, named the “Immaculate Conception” Press (Zoja e Papërlyeme), built the public chapel of St Joseph and began catechism for children. In 1877 the Jesuits also founded the St Francis Xavier Institute for the boys of Shkodër, funded by the Austrian government. From 1878 a complete primary school also began to operate within this Institute.
Archbishop Pooten made great efforts in Shkodër to restore, in ecclesiastical and religious terms, the former Metropolis of Shkodër, holding in 1871 the national Albanian Council in Shkodër, over which he also presided as papal delegate.
In the time of Imzot Pashko Guerrini (1886–1910), when Dom Pashko Junku was parish priest of Shkodër, in 1890 three bells were hung in the newly built bell tower, under the direction of the engineer Kolë Idromeno. The decoration inside the church was done at first by Austrian painters, and later by other foreign and local painters. Among these painters over the years we may mention Ndoc Martini, Fratel Arturo Sala, the Servite sister M. Gjyljana of Trieste, the Franciscan Lochuan, Pjetër Deda, Injac Dema, Tish Stajka, Simon Rrota and others. Kolë Idromeno and Gaspër Saraçi painted “the Most Holy Trinity” with the apotheosis of the Eucharist in the dome above the altar. After 1905, “the Assumption of Our Lady of Good Counsel was painted in the vault of the high altar.” The church and the bell tower were damaged over the years. During the earthquake of 1905 the church was badly damaged, especially its left side. The repairs were carried out by Kolë Idromeno.
During the Balkan War (1912–1913), when Jak Sarreqi (1910–1921) was bishop, the church suffered extensive damage from the Montenegrin bombardment of the city. The altar of the Holy Trinity and that of St Mary Magdalene were partly destroyed. On 19 March 1913, three shells that lodged in the south-eastern part of the church wall caused the bell tower to burn, the bells to fall and the clocks donated by members of the Kakarriqi family to be destroyed.
During the Balkan War the church served as a shelter for a large number of city families who believed that the Montenegrins would not bombard this holy building. No religious ceremonies were held in the church during the war; they took place instead in the chapel of the parish house.
In the time of Imzot Lazër Mjeda, 1922–1935, the cathedral church was an important place not only for pastoral formation and religious services but also for numerous religious and cultural activities. Religious and cultural activity remained at the centre of attention in the time of Imzot Gaspër Thaqi as well, in 1936–1946.
The Church of Shkodër and the communist dictatorship
Under the communist system, despite political pressure, the Diocese of Shkodër, led by its shepherd Imzot Ernest Çoba, 1958–1980, continued to carry out its pastoral duties, though of course with difficulty.
On 8 December 1954, on the occasion of the centenary of the “Immaculate Conception”, a Pontifical Mass was held in the Cathedral. A Pontifical Mass was also celebrated on 30 January 1955, on the death of Imzot Pjetër Dema, and on 11 November 1956, on the death of Imzot Bernardin Shllaku.
In the spring of 1956, under the care of Imzot Ernest M. Çoba, preparations had begun to celebrate the centenary of the Cathedral’s foundation stone. On this occasion the painting of the whole church began, with multicoloured decorations by Injac Dema, Pjetër Deda and Tish Staka. The New Testament was painted by Injac Dema, a cleric of the Archdiocese of Durrës, while the Old Testament was painted by Aleks Baqli, Pjerin Sheldija, Ferdinand Paci, Cin Lezhja, Tish Staka and, for the most part, Gjovalin Saraçi. The vaulted apse depicting the departure of “Our Lady of Good Counsel” was painted by Atë Leon Kabashi, assisted by Injac Dema. Opposite the high altar the four Major Prophets were painted: Isaiah by Pjerin Sheldija, and the other three by Dom Ndrekë Krroqi. At the back of the church the main parts of the catechism were painted by Zef Vata. On this occasion, on 29 June 1958, the foundation stone of the new altar of the Cathedral was also blessed, and Mass was celebrated by Imzot Ernest M. Çoba. On the main columns of the church were displayed the archbishops and the parish priests who served the Catholic people of Shkodër in 1858–1968.
The remains of Imzot Karlo Pooten, Pashko Guerrini, Imzot Lazër Mjeda and Imzot Gaspër Thaqi had been buried in the Cathedral Church; in 1967 they were removed and taken somewhere in the Rrëmaj cemetery, and were later recorded as lost.
The anti-religious campaign of the communist dictatorship in 1967 led to the closure of all the churches in Albania. Some were destroyed, others were turned into theatres or warehouses, while Shkodër Cathedral was turned into a Sports Palace. In 1973 the 7th Congress of the Communist Women of Albania was held there.
The rebirth of the Archdiocese
The fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism brought the spirit of freedom to Albania too.
After the first Mass, celebrated by Dom Simon Jubani in the Rrëmaj cemetery on 4 November 1990, the Cathedral was reopened on 7 March 1991 by Atë Aleks Baqli, OFM. The first Mass was presided over by Dom Zef Simoni with other priests, in the presence of thousands of faithful. Mother Teresa of Calcutta was also present. In the same year, in March, while the Cathedral Church still had the form of the Sports Palace, Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Claudio Celli, representative of the Holy See. On 24 April 1991 Imzot Nikollë Troshani ordained the first priest after the dictatorship, Dom Gjergj Simoni.
At the end of 1991, with funding from the Holy See, work began to restore the Cathedral Church to its former state. The work, which concentrated on removing the structure of the sports palace and restoring the building inside and out, was completed in mid-April 1993, on the eve of Pope John Paul II’s visit to Albania. Also on the eve of the Pope’s visit, on 21 February 1993, the main altar of the Cathedral Church was consecrated by Cardinal Jozef Tomko.
In 1993, after the restoration had been completed, the statue of St Michael driving out the devil, a precious wooden work by Kolë Idromeno, and one of the two marble holy water fonts, a gift of the Pema family, were put back in their places. On 25 April 1993 the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, on his historic visit – the first visit of a Pope to Albania – in the presence of the Apostolic Nuncio to Albania, Ivan Dias, of various bishops who had come especially for the celebration, and also of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, celebrated Holy Mass and consecrated the first four bishops of the Catholic Church in a reborn Albania: Imzot Frano Illia, Metropolitan Archbishop of Shkodër and Apostolic Administrator of Lezhë, Sapa and the Abbey of Orosh; Imzot Rrok Mirdita, Archbishop of Durrës-Tirana; Imzot Robert Ashta, Bishop of Pult; and Imzot Zef Simoni, Auxiliary Bishop of Shkodër.
After the church hierarchy had been reorganised, pastoral life in the Cathedral Church also began to revive. In the first years of democracy the parish priest was Zef Simoni (1991–1993), who knew the reality of the city of Shkodër well. After him the office of parish priest was held in 1993–1995 by the elderly priest Dom Loro Nodaj.
From the beginning until 1995, the Cathedral Church of Shkodër is recorded as dedicated to “Our Lady of Good Counsel”. In 1996 the patron of the parish appears to have changed. The parish church – the Cathedral – is dedicated to St Stephen, the First Martyr, who had earlier been celebrated as patron of the Archdiocese of Shkodër.
Imzot Frano Illia was chosen as archbishop at an advanced age, so his time at the head of this See was short. He died on 22 October 1997. On 28 March 1998 the Holy See appointed Imzot Angelo Massafra to this office, as Metropolitan Archbishop of Shkodër and Apostolic Administrator of Sapa. With this appointment pastoral life took on its settled form, moving forward rapidly in every area. Impetus in this direction was given by the parish priest Dom Lucjan Avgustini (1995–2006), who organised pastoral life well, assigning sisters and trained lay people to teach catechism and to lead the youth groups. At the beginning of 1997 the parish priest Dom Lucjan Avgustini moved into the present parish house, which made the administration of the parish as a whole easier, as well as the organisation of its social and cultural life. In 1999 he also organised the building of the new bell tower, a gift of the emigrant Kolë Cacaj.
Because of the movement of the population from the mountain areas to the plains, on 25 January 2005 the Diocese of Pult was united with the Archdiocese of Shkodër and took the joint name it now bears: the Archdiocese of Shkodër-Pult.
The Diocese of Pult was erected in the 9th century and was at first a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Doclea; from 1089 it was a suffragan of Doclea and Bar. From 1340 to 1520 there were two dioceses of Pult, or Pulati, called Greater Pulati and Lesser Pulati. In 1993 St John Paul II rebuilt the Albanian episcopate after the communist dictatorship, restoring the Diocese of Pult as well.
National events have also been held in the Cathedral Church. Thus on 10 November 2002 the canonical process for the declaration of martyrdom of 40 Servants of God was opened. It was also in Shkodër Cathedral that this process was closed, on 8 December 2010, and many other events took place there.
In April 2008 the second jubilee of the building of the church was celebrated: the 150th anniversary of the blessing of the first stone. At the request of the Archbishop of Shkodër, Imzot Angelo Massafra, this jubilee year was proclaimed by the Holy See a “Jubilee Time”, running from 20 October 2007 to 20 April 2008.
As part of this festive year a series of events was organised, among which we may mention:
the “Academic conference on the 150th anniversary of the Cathedral’s foundation stone” (23 April 2008), and the consecration of the Cathedral Church on 12 January 2008 by the Archbishop, Imzot Angelo Massafra, and Cardinal Franc Rodé.
In accordance with canon law, Imzot Frano Illia, Imzot Robert Ashta, Cardinal Mikel Koliqi and Imzot Zef Simoni have been buried in the crypt of this Cathedral, and the remains of Imzot Ernesto Çoba (brought from the civil cemetery of Tirana) and of Imzot Benjamin Alberti (1832–1838), brought from the Church of St Mary Magdalene in Kazenë (Tarabosh), have been reburied there.
With the arrival of the parish priest and administrator Dom Artur Jaku (2014), the Cathedral Church and its surroundings are being approached with a new vision. A general plan has been drawn up for landscaping the area around the Cathedral, and work on the square in front of the Cathedral has been carried out according to this plan. Work has also been done on restoring the chapel in the legendary Rrëmaj cemetery and on putting its upkeep and care on a proper footing.
An extraordinary event was the Beatification of Imzot Vinçenc Prennushi and 37 Companions, Martyrs, held in Shkodër Cathedral on 5 November 2016.
All this adds to the value of this Archdiocese and of this Temple of God in the face of the challenges it meets today.
Dom Nikë Ukgjini