- Rrok Mirdita
Rrok Kola Mirdita (born
September 28 ,1939 ,Klezna ,Montenegro ) is the CatholicArchbishop ofDurrës -Tirana , the Primate ofAlbania .He was ordained a
priest onJuly 2 ,1965 , and he was the priest of an Albanianparish inBronx ,New York ,United States .On
December 25 ,1992 , he was appointed the archbishop of theDurrës-Tirana Archdiocese and he was ordained onApril 25 ,1993 , byPope John Paul II and CardinalsCamillo Ruini andJozef Tomko , along with three more bishops (Zef Simoni ,Frano Illia andRobert Ashta ) during the Pope's pastoral visit to Albania. So the Catholic hierarchy was restored in Albania after persecutions by Communists. He says that he has nothing from his predecessor save his breast cross.He is the President of Albanian Bishops Conference and the Chairman of Caritas Albania.
On his initiative St. Paul's Cathedral was built in Tirana. Its triangular architecture, according to the Archbishop's idea, symbolizes the cohabitation of
Islam , Orthodox Christianity and Catholicism in Albania. The first Holy Mass in the new cathedral was celebrated by CardinalAngelo Sodano , Vatican's Secretary of State, and Archbishop Rrok Mirdita onJanuary 27 ,2002 . The Archbishop's house was built next to the cathedral.At
Christmas 1999 the Catholic archbishop Rrok Mirdita and the Orthodox Archbishop Anastasios (Anastas) together greeted the believers.Archbishop Rrok Mirdita thinks that the deep cause of the riots of 1997 in Albania is a crisis of values. The only counterweight to the temptations of the West is Christ.
External links
*Photos: [http://www.kirche-in-not.de/01_aktuelles/projekte_mai.php] [http://www.acismom.com/Smom/ACTIVITIES/rivista/2000p/42eng.htm] [http://www.byzantines.net/OurLadyofGrace/photo3.htm]
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