TIRANA, September 5 – The Municipality of Tirana and the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Tirana-Durres signed a memorandum agreement for the placement of a memorial to the Albanian Saint in the capital of Albania on the Day of Sanctification of Mother Teresa on September 5.
Mayor Erion Veliaj said that this is news long awaited by all Albanians and that they had a big dream to erect a statue of Mother Teresa in Tirana for a long time.
“I don’t believe there is a better moment – 30 years after Albania established relations with the Vatican, 25 years after the immortality of Mother Teresa, Saint Teresa, the woman with the small body, but the great work – to celebrate all of them. Today we begin the journey towards the construction of the memorial to Saint Mother Teresa on the hills of the Artificial Lake, in the area known as “Lapidari”, so it is really a great blessing for our city,” said Veliaj.
The Metropolitan Archbishop of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Tirana-Durres, Monsignor Arjan Dodaj F.d.C. thanked the head of the Municipality of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, for the good news on this special day for all Albanians.
“I am very grateful to God for this inspiration, and precisely I thank the mayor, Erion, and Mr. Prime Minister (Edi Rama), because in reality this idea has also found the blessing and cooperation of the Albanian government and the Holy See. Mother Teresa unites us all. So I think this memorial will be a place of union for everyone, without any form of division or categorization,” said Monsignor Arjan Dodaj F.d.C.
Each 5 September marks the celebration of Saint Teresa Sanctification Day in Albania. Mother Teresa officially became “Saint Teresa of Kolkata” on 5 September 2016, which was 19 years to the day after her passing in 1997. Saint Teresa Sanctification Day is considered a public holiday.
Mother Teresa once said ‘By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun.’ /Argumentum.al
