Cardinal Ernest Simoni, Homilist and Speaker, was held captive in an Albanian prison for 28 years. His charisms have been likened to those of St. Padre Pio.
Presbyter of the Archdiocese of Shkodrë-Pult (Albania), Cardinal Simoni was born on October 18, 1928, in Troshani, a village a few kilometres from Shkodrë, to a deeply religious family. At the age of 10, he entered the Franciscan College in Troshani, beginning the process of formation for the priesthood.
In 1948, at the height of persecution by the communist regime of Enver Hoxha, the Franciscan convent was looted and turned into a place of torture for prisoners. The friars were all shot, and the novices expelled. He was 20 years old and was sent by the regime to teach in a remote village in the mountains. Here, his work as a teacher became principally a missionary and evangelizing task. After serving two years in the military (1953-1955), he completed his theological studies in secret and was ordained a priest on April 7, 1956, in Shkodrë.
In obedience to the bishop, he was incardinated in the diocese, although he remained profoundly Franciscan at heart.
On December 24th, 1963, after the Christmas Mass, he was arrested and jailed in Shkodrë, where he was held in solitary confinement. Sentenced to death, the sentence was commuted to 25 years of hard labor. In prison, he became spiritual father and point of reference for prisoners.
On May 22nd, 1973, he was again sentenced to death as the alleged instigator of a revolt, but on account of favorable testimony from his jailers, the sentence was not carried out. His prison stay lasted 18 years, twelve of which he spent in the mines.
After liberation in 1981, he was still considered an “enemy of the people” and forced to work in the Shkodrë sewers. He exercised the ministry of the priesthood clandestinely until the fall of the regime in 1990. Since then, he has continued to serve as a humble priest in many villages, seeking to reconcile feuds and bring his testimony, which deeply moved even Pope Francis on his visit to Tirana on September 21, 2014.
Created and proclaimed Cardinal by Pope Francis in the consistory of 19 November 2016, diaconate of Santa Maria della Scala.