Living ‘martyr’ of communism, Cardinal Simoni, presents relic of Albanian martyrs to Leo XIV

Cardinal Ernest Simoni, 97, considered a “living martyr” of the bloody communist persecution in Albania, met at the Vatican with Pope Leo XIV this week in a private audience marked by the remembrance of the testimony of faith of the persecuted Church.

According to Vatican media reports, the cardinal presented the pontiff with a cross and a relic of the Albanian martyrs “who gave their lives out of fidelity and love for Jesus, and for the salvation of the people of Albania, so that all men may contemplate the smile of heaven,” the cardinal told the pope.

The meeting on April 26, also attended by about 40 of the cardinal’s relatives, took place in “an atmosphere of joy and hope, gazing upon the face of the Holy Father, who represents the face of Jesus, to proclaim to all mankind the good news from heaven, of peace, of fraternity, and of love for all the peoples of the world,” Simoni told Vatican media following the meeting.

Simoni under the communist dictator Enver Hoxha

Ordained a priest in 1956, 12 years after the regime of communist dictator Enver Hoxha came to power, Simoni endured the brutal repression of the Catholic Church in the worldʼs first officially atheist state, where all religious practice was prohibited.

The priest was arrested on Christmas Day 1963 and sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to forced labor. He spent 18 years in prison and was released in 1981. However, still considered “an enemy of the people,” he was afterward forced to work cleaning out the sewers in the city of Shkodër. He carried out priestly ministry clandestinely until the fall of the regime in 1990.

Despite the absolute ban on worship, during his imprisonment he celebrated Mass daily, resorting to ingenious subterfuges to go undetected. Since he celebrated Mass in Latin, his jailers thought he had gone mad and was merely babbling incomprehensible words.

Pope Francis’ visit to Albania in 2014

In 2014, when Pope Francis visited Albania, the testimony of this now-elderly priest moved him to tears. In 2016, the pope created him a cardinal, publicly thanking him for a life of dedication that “does good to the Church.”

On April 7 this year, the cardinal celebrated the 70th anniversary of his priestly ordination. Two days earlier, on Easter Sunday, he accompanied Leo XIV during the “urbi et orbi” (“to the city and the world”) message and blessing from the central loggia of St. Peterʼs Basilica.

Simoni described the audience with the pontiff as “a special grace by the Holy Spirit and also by the Holy Father: to proclaim together, to all the peoples of the world, the peace that comes from heaven, that most sweet peace, spiritual joy, and the joy of the Resurrection.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.