By Jean-Louis De La Vaissiere, Calin Neacsu/
Tirana – Pope Francis warned during a visit to Albania on Sunday that religion can never be used to justify violence, making apparent reference to the bloodshed wreaked by Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.
The 77-year-old pontiff said majority-Muslim Albania was an “inspiring example” of religious harmony, as hundreds of thousands thronged the streets of the capital Tirana to greet him.
In a speech to leaders of Albania’s religious communities — including Muslim, Orthodox Bektashi, Jewish and Protestant — Francis took aim at extremists he accused of perverting religion for their own ends.
“No one must use the name of God to commit violence,” the spiritual leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics said at the Catholic University. “To kill in the name of God is a grave sacrilege. To discriminate in the name of God is inhuman.”
In an earlier speech to government officials he also praised the peaceful coexistence of Albania’s Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Muslims, labelling it “a precious gift to the country”.
He said it was especially important “in these times where an authentic religious spirit is being perverted and where religious differences are being distorted”.
The remarks were widely seen as a reference to Nigeria’s Boko Haram militants as well as the Islamic State group, which espouses a radical and brutal interpretation of Islam to pursue a dream of reviving a caliphate in Syria and Iraq.
“Let no one consider themselves to be the ‘armour’ of God while planning and carrying out acts of violence and oppression,” the pontiff told officials at the presidential palace in Tirana.
Local authorities stepped up security after warnings from Iraq that the IS jihadists could be planning an attack on the pope, although the Holy See downplayed such concerns.
The pontiff’s trip to Albania came at a sensitive time, during turmoil in the Middle East and rising religious intolerance in Europe.
– ‘Land of martyrs’ –
Yellow-and-white Vatican flags flew alongside Albanian ones in Tirana’s main streets while vast portraits of Catholic priests and nuns persecuted under Communism — when Albania became the world’s first atheist state — were strung across roads.
Some believers waved welcome banners while others chanted: “Papa Francesco! Papa Francesco!”
While celebrating mass at the central Mother Teresa square under light rain, the pope honoured those who suffered under former communist dictator Enver Hoxha, who ruled from 1945 to 1985. Under his rule, scores of priests and imams were executed or persecuted while many churches and mosques were razed.
“Albania was a land of martyrs,” Francis told the crowd of up to 300,000.
Nearly 2,000 Orthodox and Catholic churches were destroyed or transformed into cinemas, theatres and dance halls under Hoxha, according to Francis, who earlier said the successful rebirth of the Catholic faith after such persecution made Albania a place where “I felt like I should go”.
On the way back to the Vatican City after the trip, the pope told journalists that he had picked Albania as the first European country to visit because he “wanted to send a message, a signal to Europe”.
Although he did not spell out the message, he stressed the peaceful coexistence of people with different faiths in Albania.
The revival of Catholicism in the country is due in part to the popularity of Mother Teresa, an ethnic Albanian born in neighbouring Macedonia.
Yet only about 15 percent of the population is Catholic, with Muslims in the majority with 56 percent, and the Orthodox making up 11 percent.
The Argentine pontiff travelled in the same open-topped vehicle he uses in Saint Peter’s Square and stopped on several occasions to shake hands with believers or to take children in his arms.
Hysen Doli, an 85-year-old Muslim who had come to the square with 10 members of his family, told AFP: “We belong to another religion but have come here out of respect to get the pope’s blessing.”
– Heightened security –
Francis concluded his packed 11-hour visit with a visit to orphans in a social centre near the Albanian capital.
The Holy See hopes Albania — with one of the youngest populations in Europe — will be a source of converts in a largely secular continent.
Despite some speculation about a possible IS attack, the visit, secured by unprecedented security measures, ended without incident.
Some Vatican-watchers feared Francis had made himself a target by speaking out against the Islamic State organisation.
The Vatican has voiced unusual support for US air strikes in Iraq to defend persecuted Christians there.
Albania last month began sending weapons and ammunition to Kurdish forces fighting IS militants in Iraq, and security sources in the country have dismissed concern that home-grown militants might be planning an attack.
It is the second papal visit to Albania in modern times. Pope John Paul II travelled there the year after the collapse of its communist regime in 1992.( (AFP))
BRIEFING MEMO-“Violence?- You ain’t seen nothing yet!”
New PM Edi Rama threatens the parliamentary opposition/
Tirana, 16 September 2013-The Democratic Party is gravely concerned about several unprecedented attacks involving violent language and threats against the opposition and the denial of its basic parliamentary rights, by the new Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Expressing our utmost appreciation for your time and consideration, the following is a brief account of the events:
1. On 9 and 10 September 2013, Albanian Parliament assembled in its first and second opening sessions, after the election of 23 June 2013. Contrary to what Albania experienced in the last 8 years, this time the opposition led by the Democratic Party participated responsibly and constructively in the constitution of the new Parliament.
2. Prior to and repeatedly during the works of the Parliament this week, the Democratic Party chairman and MPs publicly pledged to end the past legacy of the previous opposition of blocking and boycotting, and to offer full consensus by supporting unconditionally every step that helps to further the process of European integration of Albania.
3. After his election on the afternoon of 10 September, the new Speaker of Parliament notified the MPs of the time of the next session of the Parliament, which was scheduled to take place the next day, on 11 September 2013, at 11:00 am.
4. To their great surprise, MPs were informed that during this session, that is, the very next morning at 11:00, the new Prime Minister will present the political program of the new government. Immediately afterwards, MPs were to ask questions and debate about the proposed program.
5. Meanwhile, opposition MPs had not received a copy of the purported program. The official request of the head of DP Parliamentary Group to postpone the debate for 72 hours, until MPs prepare themselves for this most important debate met with the arrogant refusal of the majority.
7. This is the first time in 22 years of democratic parliamentary practice in Albanian that the opposition is denied of its constitutional right to review the draft political program prior to engaging in a parliamentary debate.
8. The letter and the spirit of Albanian Constitution and the Rules of the Parliament guarantee the right of the opposition to transparency and parliamentary oversight. It was only after the public refusal of all opposition representatives to engage in such a window-dressing practice that the majority restored the normal course of proceeding and accepted to grant 48 hours, for the preparation of the debate.
9. Unfortunately, arrogant behavior and the use of threats to the opposition did not end here. During his initial address which was supposed to be the introduction of the new government program, the new PM Edi Rama kept retorting to harsh language and attacking and threatening the opposition and its MPs using expressions such as “one million slaps in the face are indeed more than you can handle” and “after receiving such a battering no wonder your heads are spinning”.
10. In protest to such abusive language in what should have been the presentation of the government program, the opposition walked out, but vowed to return on Saturday to engage in parliamentary debate about the program.
11. During Saturday and Sunday opposition MPs participated in the debate, patiently pointing out all discrepancies between the inflated promises of Socialist Party’s electoral campaign and the political program of the mandated government.
12. This constructive approach was countered by continues verbal hostility culminating in PM Edi Rama closing remarks before the voting of the new government. Referring to the walk out by the opposition in protest to the harsh language and verbal attacks during his presentation speech PM Rama went on to say: “… a motive to leave the hall on the pretention that I exercise violence? You ain’t seen nothing yet!”
13. When the opposition group rose to protest such an unprecedented threat, the Speaker of Parliament Ilir Meta, an ally of PM Rama in the governing coalition in an obvious attempt to play down the situation stated audibly “A joke. It was a joke.”
14. Immediately afterwards through a press conference, the leader of the opposition and chairman of the Democratic Party Lulzim Basha deploring and condemning the threats, invited PM Edi Rama to renounce them and to bid his excuses for the language used. However, no reaction whatsoever has been issued by PM Rama or his office to date.
15. The Democratic Party and Albanian opposition believe that these actions by PM Edi Rama are a bad omen for the future relations between the majority and opposition. They follow prior incidents of violent language and outright physical violence towards individuals and institutions by Mr. Rama and his associates prior to, during and after the election campaign.
16. Besides continuing a well-established pattern in the recent and distant past, this conduct may also be prelude to a strategy of tension with the Albanian opposition in order to shift the attention of the public away from the many promises made by the current majority during the election campaign.
17. The Democratic Party puts its faith in the values of transparent and constructive debate and cooperation that reflect European standards of parliamentary practice. However the Democratic Party is determined to stand firmly against current and any future threats and ready to undertake all legal and legitimate steps to defend the mission of the opposition, the values of parliamentary democracy and the wishes of Albanian citizens for a European conduct of parliamentary politics on the way to European integration of Albania.
Thank you for your kind attention.