Dear participants,

Your Excellency, Mons. Diego Causero,

Honorable Ambassadors,

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a pleasure to be with you today to celebrate the 25th anniversary of establishing the diplomatic relations with the Holy See, which corresponds with the beginning of pluralism and a democratic state in Albania.

While the diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Albania are relatively new, our spiritual connection goes so many centuries back that Catholicism is today a significant part of our national culture.

The Holy See, a physical supporter of the Church and the Pope at the same time, are three entities that stand in the global scene as a player of a special and irreplaceable usefulness, that of an expert on humanity, as Pope Paul VI describes it in his speech at the United Nations in 1965.

On this anniversary, Albania recognizes and commends the philosophy, where Vatican bases its new mentality of the international relations that is guided by respect for alterity, religious freedoms, and the various cultures and traditions as universal values that promote understanding and cohabitation.

Albania represents a unique symbol of such philosophy of peace. The religious coexistence and harmony that permeates the spirit and Constitution of the entire Albanian society, world, and history constitutes the inalienable basis of humanity and moral dimension, which, as rightfully emphasized by the Holy See, must always guide the international relations. Such model of cohabitation, which makes us both proud and responsible, will continue to be an integral part not only of our cooperation with the Holy See, but also of our country’s global approach.

The history of the 25 years of diplomatic relations is a success story, whose peak corresponds with the visits of two Popes: the visit in Albania of Pope John Paul II on 25 April 1993 and Pope Francis on 21 September 2014.

The role of the Holy See and Church in reviving initiatives and projects in education, health, and social aid during the transition period in our country gives also a special dimension to our bilateral relations.

It is, however, this 25th anniversary when such relation is crowned by some major developments that have glorified the name of Albania and its national heritage. We remain deeply grateful to Pope Francis for his act of honoring and beatifying the greatest daughter of the Albanian nation, Mother Teresa, through the ceremony of her Canonization, last September.

Mother Teresa embodied through her example and her works the most distinguished values of our national heritage, which she sublimated to a universal dimension sharing them with the entire mankind. Being a citizen of the world, Mother Teresa remains an inseparable part of the Albanian identity and international pride, as well as a milestone of the spiritual relation that we inherit from the Catholic Church and the Catholic world.

We are, at the same time, thankful for the Beatification of the 38 Martyrs of our Catholic Church on 5th of November in Shkodra, which was accompanied by the announcement by Pope Francis of the Albanian Cardinal Don Ernest Troshani, celebrated on the 19th of November, 2016, in Vatican City. Don Ernest Troshani is the second Albanian Cardinal after Mikel Koliqi.

These extraordinary acts of honor represent major events for the entire Albanian world and recognition of the values that this world has brought to humanity. They represent a genuine appreciation of the resilience of the Catholic Church, and the emancipating sacrifices and values it has brought to Albania and the Albanian nation, as well as a clear signal of the intensification of our diplomatic relations.

In this context, I would like to emphasize our further commitment to deepening our cooperation and fruitful dialogue with the religious communities and the Catholic community in particular in the interest of the joint cohesion between the secular and religious institutions and the community.

I would also like to assure you of the firm will of the Albanian Government to deepen its versatile cooperation with the Holy See, and the most valuable heritage of harmony that Pope Francis unfolded to the world as a “religious brotherhood”.

Thanking you for your participation, I wish you success with the Conference!