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Article: ALBANIA: PRIESTS ORDAINED IN ALBANIA FOR FIRST TIME IN DECADE.(Abstract)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- IPR Strategic Business Information Database
- Article date:
- July 4, 2000
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Archbishop Angelo Massafra ordained five priests in the Shkodra cathedral on 29 June. He said: "This is an historic day, especially for the younger generation in Albania.... [The ordinations are] a sign of hope that shows how the Albanian church is growing rapidly after so many years of state atheism and martyrdom," AP reported. The last time Roman Catholic priests were ordained in Albania was 1991. All religions were ruthlessly persecuted under the communists, who in 1967 declared Albania to be the "world's first atheistic state." Places of worship were destroyed or desecrated after that date, and the Shkodra cathedral became a sports center. Islam, Orthodoxy, Roman ...