Pristina’s smile

A shrine dedicated to Mother Theresa will be consecrated in the heart of Pristina, Kosovo’s capital, on Sunday September 5, the day of the liturgical festivity of the Blessed from Calcutta, whose parents were born in the small State in the Balkans. The consecration is the highlight of the celebrations for the birth centennial of Mother Theresa, whose figure is especially dear to Kosovo’s population, to the point that Kosovo’s President Fatmir Sejdiu proclaimed 2010 to be “Mother Theresa Year”. With her work not only did she bring together the entire Albanian population of Kosovo – some 2 million inhabitants, 90% of whom Muslim – Catholics accounting for approximately 5% – she also became a symbol and an encouragement to the progress of the long reconciliation process which the Balkans are yet to fulfill.An “ecumenical” celebration. The celebration, presided over by the archbishop of Bar in Montenegro Zef Gashi, on behalf of the Holy See, will be attended by the Catholic administrator of Prizren and pastor of the Kosovar Church, Msgr. Dode Gjergji, and by representatives of the Bishops’ Conferences of Albania, Croatia, and of the Bishops’ Conference of the Saints Cyril and Methodius, which represents the bishops of Serbia, Montenegro e Kosovo.”Mother Theresa already did her first miracle – Msgr. Lush Gjergji, vicar general of the Church in Kosovo, told SIR Europe – since H.E. Amfilohije, Metropolitan of Montenegro of the Serbian Orthodox Church and current administrator of the eparchy of Raska and Prizren in Kosovo, and Mufti Naim Ternava, president of the Muslim Community in Kosovo, will both be attending Sunday’s celebrations. Thus the figure of Mother Theresa will once again symbolically bring together those populations who fought against each other until a few years ago”. This is significant, considering the difficult progress of ecumenism in Kosovo, on which the violence of the war continues to weigh heavily, along with the recent political events. Indeed, while Orthodox faithful are mostly Serbian, most Catholics are Albanian.A busy agenda. Prior to the consecration ceremony, on Saturday September 4, will be held a reception, to the presence of the President of Kosovo, in the new building of the Apostolic Administration built near the shrine. The bishop’s welcoming address will be followed by a concert, Mozart’s “Requiem Aeternam”, that will be aired live on television. “Thanks to an agreement with Eurovision all the faithful of the Albanian diaspora living across Europe will be able to follow the concert”, Msgr. Gjergji explained. There are large communities of Kosovar Catholics in Swizerland, Germany, Austria and Croatia, and even in the United States. A conference on the life and works of Mother Theresa will be held Tuesday September 7. A long wait. The building of the shrine accompanied Kosovo’s recent past and the attempt to come out of the violence of the 1990s. “The blessing of the first stone – said the vicar general – took place in 2003 thanks to the two great protagonists of this project’s realization, President Ibrahim Rugova and the then bishop Mark Sopi”. The President himself donated to the Church the stretch of land where the shrine was erected: an area along Mother Theresa Boulevard, the city’s main street, where also Kosovo’s parliament stands, a few blocks further down. “Unfortunately, due to the sudden death of both promoters – he continues – the project was slowed down until it reached a standstill. The current bishop Gjergji returned to the project and construction works were resumed on September 5 2008, exactly three years ago”. All of Kosovo’s parishes, along with diaspora Albanians, even “non-Catholics”, contributed to the shrine’s construction with their offerings”.A pastoral centre. A large auditorium, which is planned to become the point of reference for cultural and pastoral activities, will be erected beneath the shrine. The centre will be given the name of Msgr. Pjeter Bogdani, the last Catholic bishop living in Pristina before the occupation by the Ottoman Empire over three centuries ago. “On the eve of the consecration – concludes the vicar general – we wish to convey our gratitude to the Holy Father and to all the men and women of good will who showed us that the Divine Providence requited Kovoso’s Christians for the persecutions suffered across the centuries. This shrine is not made of iron and concrete. It is made with the heart and gratitude of so many people. For this, its doors will always be open for everyone, with no religious or ethnic distinction so that following the example of Mother Theresa it may become a token of forgiveness and reconciliation”.