Jesuits in Albania
The Greek College of St. Athanasius educated Basilian missionaries, who went to Himarë in Southern Albania to preach for unity among the Catholics and the Orthodox.
This would allow Guagiliata, once he settled in Albania, to quickly learn to communicate in the Gheg dialect with the people of Shkodër.
[9] In 1842, the Bishop of Shkodër, Luigi Guglielmi, confirmed that the Propaganda Fide approved his request to open a seminary in the city.
[9] Impressed by the missionary activities of the three Jesuits who had settled in the city, Guglielmi and the local clergy agreed that the seminary would be put under their leadership.
[11] Nonetheless, the local Ottoman ruler of the city Abdi Pasha assured that no harm would come to the Jesuits and on January 22, 1843, the seminary was completed.
[12] Fearing an increase of foreign influence in the city, Osman Pasha banned all Catholic liturgical functions, which made it impossible for the Jesuits to pursue their missionary activities.
Five years later, Jesuit Claudio Stanislao Neri tried to rebuild the seminary but ultimately failed and was also expelled from the city.
[14] After negotiations to resolve the dispute ended, the Ottoman Empire agreed to reimburse the damages inflicted upon the Catholics and to punish the officials responsible for the persecutions.
[15] During his visit at the seminary in 1868, the Jesuit Provincial, Giovanni Marcucci decided that the language of instruction for the seminarians would be changed from Italian to their native tongue, Albanian.
[18] After Albania declared its independence, many of the college's alumni would become important political, religious and cultural figures of the country.
The enterprise was named Shtypshkroja e Zojës së Papërlyeme (Immaculate Conception Printing Press) and published literary works in Albanian, despite the fact that usage of the language was banned.
This helped intensify a sense of national unity among Albanians, since many of them learned to write and read via the Sacred Heart Messenger.
The organization was named Leka (acronym for Lidhje, Edukatë, Kulturë and Argëtim) and helped boost ties between the students and the alumni of the college.
