Albanian Cardinal Ernest Simoni, who endured decades of imprisonment, torture, and forced labor

By Fr. Mazi Uc My Catholic Faith -

Albanian Cardinal Ernest Simoni, who endured decades of imprisonment, torture, and forced labor during his country's crackdown on religion, is recognized by Pope Francis as a "living martyr." At 95 years old, Cardinal Simoni continues to serve Christ, according to the pope.

"Today, I would like to give a special greeting to a living martyr,"

Pope Francis said at the end of his general audience in the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall on February 14, the feast of St. Valentine, who himself was martyred in Rome during the third century.

Cardinal Simoni was arrested while celebrating Mass on Christmas Eve in 1963. Initially sentenced to death by firing squad, he endured severe beatings and spent three months in solitary confinement under brutal conditions. He was tortured for refusing to denounce the Church.

Though eventually released, Simoni was later arrested again and sent to a labor camp. There, he was forced to work in a mine for 18 years, followed by another 10 years of labor in sewage canals.

When Pope Francis visited Albania in 2014, Simoni, then an 84-year-old priest, recounted his story of persecution, bringing the pope to tears. Pope Francis had chosen Albania as his first European destination after learning of the extreme religious persecution the country had endured from 1945 to 1991 under its militant atheist regime.

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