Tirana (Fides Service) - "The Church in Albania is young and vibrant, filled with enthusiasm it continues to growth in faith although it faces widespread social problems of poverty, indifference, due to western models of materialism, hedonism and consumerism. It is a living community in which there are many young people and students with great sensitivity " Fr Gjorgj Meta aged 28, assistant priest at Tirana Cathedral told Fides Service. Fr Meta works in the sector for social communications of the Archdiocese of Durazzo-Tirana.
Fr Meta speaks about the atmosphere in the country, on this tenth anniversary of the Papal visit: "The recurrence is stirring great enthusiasm in dioceses and parishes, there is an air of festivity. The memory of the Holy Father's visit is vivid. He arrival was a great sign after 50 years of repression. For the Church it was an encouragement, concretised with the ordination of four new Albanian Bishops".
Fr Meta says that "for our society Christianity offers Albania a possibility to draw closer to the rest of Europe. The Pope, who had a major role in the fall of communism and the transformation of the whole of Europe, was a symbol of this desire for renewal and development. I remember that Tirana main square was filled to overflowing: for me, I was 17 at the time, the emotion cannot be described in words".
The fruits of last ten years are positive says Fr Meta: "Over the last ten years we have worked, celebrated, announced the Gospel with many missionaries from all over the world who have come to give a hand to our Church. Today we are developing pastoral structures, helping our people truly live the Gospel and at last we are administering the Sacraments, baptisms, first holy communion, confirmations, marriage, denied to the people of God for 50 years. With the help of foreign missionaries, mainly from Italy, we are announcing the Good News to people who are distant from the Church. Major events include the ordination of 15 local priests, (Father Meta is one of them). This is a generation of passing from the one which lived under Communism to the one which faces a new era of democracy and freedom, but we priests are few and new vocations are urgently needed. The state of the priesthood must be lived as authentic continuation of the mission of Christ". PA (Fides Service 25/4/2003 EM lines 35 Words: 436)