And in 5th place.........God!

Must admit I enjoyed reading the thoughts of Father Silvio in the "Law and Life" magazine dated December 2003.
Here is his article...( obviously speaking of the Catholic population of Albania)

"When I first came to Albania I heard many things, but I heard most about Father Gjergj Fishta. I had heard about him when I was in Italy...we used to hear Radio Tirana in Italian. When I came here (Albania) as soon as I left the ferry boat every Albanian talked to me about Father Gjergj. Father Gjergj here, father Gjergj there, until I got bored. Later, I observed that on St. Anthony's day many people rushed to go to the church in Laç. They went 2-3 days, many without eating. It was not just Catholics, but also muslims and Orthodox believers. I valued very much this simple faith of a poor people. Visiting various towns and villages I heard songs of the Lady of Shkodra (The Virgin Mary). The songs are known throughout Albania. It was beautiful. In Tirana, I was in the church that Father Zef served. I saw that he was loved and met by all. He was very active, meeting with politicians, vip's etc. They talked about many things (however I do not know if they talked about religion). On reflection, my opinion for Albanians is that for them, first was Gjergj Fishta, second, St. Anthony, third, The Blessed lady, whereas fourth was Zef Pellumbi. And though I did not find in what place God was in their lives, I think that there is no doubt that he is fifth!"

Lead Mosque - Xhamia e Plumbit

I hear that money is being made available from the governement and the “Bashkia” for the renovation of the Lead Mosque.
Built towards the end of the 1700’s this is one of the few mosques that were not destroyed around 1967, when Enver Hoxha’s communist government declared Albania an “atheistic country” and banned all religious meetings and literature.

Some of these buildings have now been rebuilt….like the Mosque in the main street and the one in Parruc, along with the Bell/Clock Tower at the large Catholic Church and the tall tower with the illuminated cross at the Françeskan Church.
However, it has taken a long time for anything to be done regarding the Lead Mosque.

It appears that it has been “unlucky” in many ways.
The River Drini seems to have caused the land around the mosque to rise and what used to be an elevated mosque now is on the ground level.
Also, many people have built houses nearby which appears to have caused blockage in the draining of rainwater and the mosque is often surrounded by pools of water.

Hopefully, now there will be no “red tape” and unnecessary delays in getting the work started to bring the mosque back to something of its former glory. (and a little bit of a tourist attraction!)

By the way, there is a very good photograph at the Foto Marubi building taken from Rozafa Castle looking down on the mosque surrounded by trees and shrubs that sadly are no longer there.

I will bring more news as and when work starts….but knowing Albania – don’t hold your breath!

Reflections on Religion

Is there religious harmony in Shkoder?

Is there religious harmony in Shkoder?

I come from Scotland.
Glasgow is a divided city. Not Islam-Roman Catholic but Protestant-Catholic. There are 2 big football teams Celtic and Rangers. In general Celtic are supported by the Catholics and Rangers by the Protestants. On any “normal” day Glaswegians live together work together and drink together without any problem. But on match day they stand at opposite ends of the football ground shouting abuse at each other. Come Monday morning things have calmed down, although “bragging rights” are very important.
However, there is a general dislike of each other. One side will blame the problems on the school system of the other (i.e. they are uneducated). The other side will accuse the other of being “unwashed” and “bigoted”. They live together, they work together, they party together…but they don’t really like each other.
I was interested to read a recent comment from a Celtic supporter…” I am ethnically Catholic. I don’t believe in God but I still hate Rangers.”

Shkoder is roughly 50% Catholic 50 % Islam.
I wonder if Shkoder is a little similar to Glasgow?
Do we have “ethnic Catholics” and “ethnic muslims” in our town?

To answer the question “is there religious harmony?”we first must define what is religion.
This is important to understand.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines religion as...
1 a: the state of a religious "a nun in her 20th year of religion"
b (1): the service and worship of God or the supernatural
(2): commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance
2: a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices
3 archaic : scrupulous conformity : conscientiousness
4: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith

Yes there are religious (truly religious) Roman Catholics and muslims in Shkoder...but the vast majority are not. Religion to the majority is the family they are born into. “We are muslims!” or “We are Catholics!” What that really means is that they profess belief in God, Jesus and the Catholic Church, or Allah and Mohammed...but they have little idea of the real teaching of their religion. However, it does mean that they “faithfully” celebrate holy days and act according to the traditions of the “religion” in respect of practices at birth, marriage, or death.

So to the question “is there religious harmony?”...I would have to say that question really means... “Is there social harmony?”. And to that I must answer “yes!”.
The 2 different cultures exist and function without too much difficulty. Although if you ask a young man that has fallen in love with a girl from the opposite religion...then they both will tell you that it is still a BIG difficulty. “Çifti i Lumtur” may be one of the best and funniest Albanian films, but it is no laughing matter to any young couple who find themselves in a similar situation!
Yet there are mixed marriages in Shkoder, and mixed marriages that don’t just work, but flourish and declare the “working together” of the 2 cultures.

They work together, drink coffee with each other, wish each other a happy Easter or Happy Ramazan…but in general they think they are “better” than the other group.( I use this description rather than the word “dislike” each other or the “hate” word used above by the Celtic supporter).
I have heard Catholics complain about the way muslims bring up their children…with the opinion that the muslim children are not at fault as the parents are “uneducated”. This does not mean “unschooled”, but rather that the way they are brought up is at a lower lever than Catholic families.
I have heard muslims comment on the Catholics and how they go over the top and spend too much money on their festivals. “harxhojnë shumë!, kanë luajt mendësh!”
Or else criticism that they eat pork. “ jane piste, hanë mishin e derrit!”
I have heard complaints from both about descrimination regarding school marks, or job applications due to their religion.

Is there a danger?
My answer would be that the greatest danger would be to underestimate the danger.
Yes, there is a danger. It only takes one madman to stir up trouble and the 2 communities could be at “war” with each other ( here I mean a war of words and not killing each other!) A couple of years ago a large cross erected on a hill near the village of Bushat was knocked down. There were objections by muslims about the plans to have the statue of Mother Theresa at the entrance to Shkoder. I foresee that as either/both religions become more “visable” in their outward expressions of their beliefs...so there will be more opposition.
However, in 1997 Albania rioted and the whole city appeared to be armed. There was shooting everywhere. Yet, in all the looting, destruction and killing...neither mosque nor church was damaged. Nor was there any sign of religious hate or religious killing. In fact I used to say that i felt safer in 1997 during the riots when there was no police presence than before! This was due to the fact that the whole neighbourhood ( I lived in “3 Heronjte” at that time) barricaded the end of the street and protected us from any danger. Nightwatchmen kept guard in the local bar just below my bedroom window, and at 2 a.m. they shot a couple of rounds of their automatic just to tell others that they were still guarding the area!

Will things change in the future?
Yes – but at the same time, you only need to walk down the street on a summer evening to see by their dress (or lack of it) that the young girls are far more influenced from Italian TV than the Qu’ran.
There are more younger men studying the Qu’ran and serious about it. Just go to the mosque on Friday and see.
It was encouraging to hear a Catholic priest refused to baptise some of the catechism class as their school behaviour was bad!

But if there are more young people being serious with their religious studies then I think we will face the “real” religious harmony question in a few years time.
Personally, I like to think that the religious studies will lead to open debate and discussion with theological based arguments, rather than widen any gulf of “dislike” and “disagreement”.

Maybe the wise man who said that the faith of Albanians is “Albanianism” was correct.
“Awake, Albania, it's time to rise
And bind yourselves with brotherly ties;
Look not to church or mosque for pietism,
The faith of Albanians is Albanianism! “
Pashko Vasa

Maybe there will always be a small group who are strong in their beliefs...but maybe Shkoder will prove that the real religion of Albanians is their national identity.

Of what i have seen, family and the opinion of the family, friends and neighbours seems to be far more important than anything that God or Allah says.

Time will tell, however, for now it appears that as long as both cultures are accomodated by the government and “bashkia” then both groups will be happy.

The 3 major religions in Albania

There is much talk in Albania of the 3 major religions - Roman Catholic, Albanian Orthodox and Islam. Although there is no recent survey to show the statistics, it is believed that it is approximately 70% Islam, 20% Albanian Orthodox, and 10% Roman Catholic. The vast majority of the Albanian Orthodox would live in central and south Albania, whereas the Roman Catholic population are strongest in the north and Malesia.
Shkoder itself would be approximately 50% Catholic -50% Islam.

There is in fact talk of trying to make these the ONLY recognised religions in Albania.
Recently, I have seen a couple of Mormons on the streets of Shkoder. These are the first I have seen in 12 years.

A few years ago, I was walking down the street and there were 3 Mercedes cars parked on the road. (not a strange occurrence in Albania !! You will see more Mercedes cars here than anywhere else in the world!) Anyway, on the first there was a Qu'ran in the window, in the second a crucifix hung from the inside mirror, and in the third a picture of Claudia Schiffer (photo model) was sellotaped to the dashboard.
I thought to myself..." Maybe THESE are the 3 major religions in Albania!"

Islam in Albania

Today is the end of Ramadan, and a holiday in Albania.
The day starts very early with a gathering at the mosque for early morning prayers. Today this is a public message over the tannoy system. Fortunately today was not too loud, as we live almost next door to a mosque!
Then the children go round the door wishing everyone a happy holiday. "Bajram bubareq!"
People give them sweets or fruit, sometimes money. It used to be only "petulla" which is a bit like a deep fried pancake, as that was all the families used to have to give. Now that Albania has improved economically, the children get a bigger selection - although I must admit to liking "petulla"!

It is clear that Islam is growing more popular in Albania, especially amongst the youth. You can see by the dress and their "look", that some are taking their religion seriously. I don't know if I was really allowed to take a video inside the mosque( and I apologise if I was not meant to), but here is a short video from today in the "Ebu Bekr" mosque in Shkoder.

Zef Pllumi

Zef Pllumi died in Rome on the 25 September 2007 (last Tuesday).

He was one of Albania's best known priests of the Catholic church and suffered greatly during the communist era.
Twice he was imprisoned. Once for 3 years and again in 1967 for a further 23 years.

In 2006 he was given the title "Nderi i kombit" from the then President, Alfred Mosiu.

Pope to visit Albania

Pope John Paul II with Sali Berisha 1993

During a recent trip to Rome , Pope Benedict XVI accepted an invitation from prime Minister Sali Berisha to visit Albania.

Pope John Paul II was the last pope to visit in 1993.

I would imagine that any visit, would include a trip to Shkoder.

Albanians Rediscover God, If Not Old-Time Religion

Please see the following link for a very good article from the Washington Post on religion in Shkoder. (Article dated 4 April 2007)

Higher religion in Albania?

Photo of the view from my apartment

Lord Byron once wrote,
"Land of Albania! let me bend mine eyes
On thee, thou rugged nurse of savage men!
The cross descends, thy minarets arise,
And the pale crescent sparkles in the glen,
Through many a cypress grove within each city’s ken."

Childe Harold's Pilgramage

I don't know what Byron would write now - one thing is for certain, he would not say that the cross descends!
When I arrived in Albania in 1995 the mosque was just opening. I remember speaking to a young boy who was very enthusiastic. He told me that the minarets of the mosque were taller than the "kisha e madhe" ( big Catholic cathedral in Shkoder). A few years later, the Catholics rebuilt the clock/bell tower that had been knocked down in 1967. It was taller than the minarets. The Franciscan church has now built a large bell tower with an illuminated cross at the top, which shines down over the town.
I wait to see what is built next!!

Welcome!

This is my first blog on life in Shkoder, Albania.
I am from Scotland, but am now living in Shkoder.

Shkoder is a small town in the north of Albania close to the border with Montenegro.


The town is roughly 50% Roman catholic and 50% muslim.

This is a photo of a statue of Mother Teresa opposite the mosque on the main street.