Albania's Faiths Unite to Save Threatened Church

In the letter to the Prime Minister, Edi Rama, representatives of four religious denominations in Elbasan question a Supreme Court decision, which orders the Catholic church to vacate the premises of the St Pius X parish in order to return the land to a family that claims it.

 "This case breaches the right to faith and damages the image of Albania due to its past when the clergy was persecuted," the letter reads, referring to the communist era.   

"Our protest is not against the court ruling per se but towards the way justice is delivered in Albania," it adds.

The letter has been signed the local mufti, the head of the Bektashi Sufi order, as well as by the Catholic and Orthodox clergy from the city of Elbasan.

Only about a tenth of the population of Albania are Catholic. In the last census, in 2011, slightly more than half of people declared themselves to be Sunni Muslims.

The remainder of the population was divided between Christian Orthodox, Sufi sects dominated by the Bektashis, and smaller numbers of atheists and evangelical Christians.

In 1967, the former communist dictator Enver Hoxha declared Albania the first atheist country in the world. Religion was banned and the property of the religious communities was expropriated.

After the collapse of regime in 1991, Albania started to return confiscated property to the churches and to other owners expropriated under the Communist era.

However, the process has been marred by allegations of corruption and court rulings over property rights are often disputed.