Qerim Sadiku

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Qerim Sadiku (born February 12, 1919 in Vusanje , Kingdom of Yugoslavia , † March 4, 1946 in Shkodra , Albania ) was a Muslim who had converted to Christianity . He was arrested and shot for his belief in the atheistic Albania of the Enver Hoxha regime . He is the only Muslim among the thirty-eight martyrs of Albania who were beatified in November 2016 .

Life

Qerim Sadiku was born in the village of Vusanje near Gusinje in what is now the Montenegrin part of the Albanian Alps . He had served as a sergeant in the Albanian gendarmerie . He was evangelized by the Jesuit order . In a marriage arranged by the Church - namely the Archdiocese of Skutari at the time - he married the Catholic Christian Marije Vata in September 1944 when she was still a child. Together they had a son who was baptized as a Catholic Christian under the name Gaspër and was to be raised in a Christian way. The child was born six months after Qerim Sadikus was arrested and never met his father.

One of the lecturers at the Pontifical Seminary in Shkodra, Fr. Gjon Shllaku, OFM , wrote a satirical poem about the first secretary of the Communist Party in Shkodra, Tuk Jakova , which he read to the seminarians. A seminarian suggested that the text be printed and distributed as a tract , which happened in the first half of 1945. The two seminarians Mark Cuni and Gjergj Bici came up with the idea of ​​printing further tracts in view of the upcoming elections in December, in which they pointed out the lack of freedoms and warned against the communists. The group functioned as the "Albanian Union" (Bashkimi Shqiptar). In the course of the investigation into the resistance members, a total of 39 people were arrested by the State Security in November and December 1945 . Qerim Sadiku was arrested on December 3, 1945. Eight death sentences were read out in the Rozafa cinema on February 22, 1946 - among those convicted were Qerim Sadiku, the priests and seminarians Giovanni Fausti , Gjon Shllaku, Daniel Dajani, Mark Çuni, Gjergj Bici, Gjelosh Lulashi and Gjon Vata. More than 20 other people were sentenced to very long prison terms. They were accused of wanting to instigate a violent revolution against state power and of cooperating with foreign states. It was one of the first major show trials in communist Albania . Early on March 4, the convicts were taken to the rubbish dump behind the Catholic cemetery in Rramaj near Shkodra. There they were shot . The next night they were buried in a mass grave on the bank of the Kir .

beatification

The beatification of Qerim Sadiku and 37 other martyrs took place on November 5, 2016 in Shkodra on the square in front of St. Stephen's Cathedral . He was one of four lay people . The Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints , Cardinal Angelo Amato , presided over the celebrations on behalf of Pope Francis .

literature

  • Pjetër Pepa: The Criminal File of Albania's Communist Dictator . Uegen, Tirana 2003, ISBN 99927-54-27-3 , p. 50-83 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Beati Martiri Albanesi santiebeati.it
  2. ↑ Giovanggiuseppe Califano: In Albania saranno beatificati trent otto martiri della persecuzione comunista, la Rivincita della Storia . In: Secretaria Status (ed.): Bollettino per la Rappresentanze Pontificie . Volume XVII, No. 310 . Rome November 5, 2016, p. 12 f . ( catholica.va [DOC; accessed October 18, 2018]).
  3. ↑ a b Qerim Sadiku. In: kujto.al - Arkiva Online e Viktimave të Komunizmit në Shqipëri. Retrieved October 15, 2018 (Albanian).
  4. ↑ a b Udha e Kryqit page 10
  5. ^ Pjetër Pepa: The Criminal File of Albania's Communist Dictator . Uegen, Tirana 2003, ISBN 99927-54-27-3 , p. 50-83 .
  6. ↑ Qerim Sadiku. Retrieved October 15, 2018 .
  7. ^ Vescovi Albania: lettera per i 38 martiri Beati vittime del comunismo Vatican Radio
personal data
SURNAME Sadiku, Qerim
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Muslim, Qerim; Mysliman, Qerim (sqS)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Albanian martyr
DATE OF BIRTH February 12, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Vusanje, Gusinje , Albania
DATE OF DEATH March 4, 1946
Place of death Shkodra , Albania