Ernest Simoni
Ernest Cardinal Simoni (born October 18, 1928 in Troshan ( Zadrima ), today Lezha , Albania ) is a Roman Catholic cardinal and priest of the Archdiocese of Shkodra .
During the socialist dictatorship in Albania he spent 18 years in captivity and even after his release in 1981 he could only work as a priest in secret. He reported on this at a Vespers with Pope Francis during his visit to Albania in 2014.
Since 2016 he has been the Cardinal Deacon of Santa Maria della Scala .
Life
Ernest Simoni attended the Franciscan College in Troshan from the age of ten and later joined the order. At the height of the church persecution under Enver Hoxha , the monastery was stormed in 1948, the brothers killed and Simoni, like the other novices, expelled. He continued his studies in secret, received on 7 April 1956 in Shkodra the sacrament of Holy Orders . Since an ordination for the Franciscan order, to which he remained connected into old age, was not possible without religious structures, he was incardinated in the Archdiocese of Shkodra .
From 1963 to 1981 he was imprisoned under the atheist church persecution in the Socialist People's Republic of Albania - including in Spaç - where he was sentenced to death again in 1963 and while imprisonment in 1973 . After his release in 1981, he was forced to work as a sewer worker, but continued to secretly serve as a priest until 1990. After the fall of the communist regime and the restoration of religious freedom , he was again officially active as a priest in northern Albania.
In the solemn consistory of November 19, 2016, Pope Francis accepted him as a cardinal deacon with the titled deaconry Santa Maria della Scala in the college of cardinals . The title diakonia was seized on February 11 of the following year.
On July 15, 2017, Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Simoni as his legate for the consecration of the new Mother Teresa Cathedral on September 5, 2017 in Prizren , which is also the co- cathedral of the Apostolic Administration of Prizren and since September 5 of the following year of the diocese Prizren-Pristina is.
literature
- Mimmo Muolo: Ernest Cardinal Simoni. Life and Suffering in Communist Albania . Translation from Italian by Trude Grabher. Carolingian. Vienna 2018. ISBN 978-3-85418-180-4 .
Web links
- Simoni, Ernest. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website), accessed January 19, 2017.
- Entry on Ernest Simoni on catholic-hierarchy.org ; Retrieved January 19, 2017.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b SIMONI Card. Ernest. In: College of Cardinals - Biographical Notes. Holy See Press Office , accessed October 24, 2017 .
- ^ A b Concistoro Ordinario Pubblico: Assegnazione dei Titoli o Diaconie. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office, November 19, 2016, accessed November 19, 2016 (Italian).
- ↑ a b Annuncio di Concistoro per la creazione di nuovi Cardinali. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office , October 9, 2016, accessed October 9, 2016 (Italian).
- ↑ nouns dell'Inviato Speciale alla consacrazione della Chiesa Nuova dedicata a Santa Teresa di Calcutta a Pristina (5 Settembre 2017). In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office, July 15, 2017, accessed August 3, 2017 (Italian).
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Stanislaw Nagy |
Cardinal Deacon of Santa Maria della Scala since 2016 |
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| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Simoni, Ernest |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Simoni, Ernest Cardinal |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Albanian Roman Catholic clergyman, cardinal |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 18, 1928 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Troshan , Zadrima, Lezha Qark, Albania |