Shtjefën Kurti

Shtjefën Kurti

Dom Shtjefën Kurti
Religion Roman Catholic
Personal
Nationality Albanian
Born (1898-12-24)24 December 1898
Ferizoviç, now Ferizaj, Kosovo Vilayet, Ottoman Empire
(modern Ferizaj, Kosovo)
Died 20 October 1971(1971-10-20) (aged 72)
Fushë, Albania

Shtjefën Kurti (December 24, 1898, Ferizoviç, now Uroševac – October 20, 1971, Fushë)[1] was an Albanian Catholic priest.[2]

Life and activity

Shtjefen Kurti studied in Albania, Graz, Feldkirch, Innsbruck and Rome. Kurti was ordained priest in Rome on 13 May 1924.[1]

Father Kurti was a parish priest in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (an area including modern-day Kosovo). In 1929, together with others, he wrote a memorandum to the authority of Geneva regarding the protection of Albanians in Kosovo. He was then forced to flee by the Yugoslavian government and returned to Albania. In Albania he was the parish priest in Zhejë and in 1930 in Gurës. From 1936 he was the parish priest in Tirana.[1]

Kurti was arrested for the first time in Tirana on 28 October 1946 and imprisoned, at first in Tirana, then later in Burrel. He was sentenced to death, but his sentence was changed to 20 years' imprisonment and he was set free on 2 May 1963, after serving 17 years. After his release, he was sent to live at barracks in Gurës.

Death

In 1970, even though it was forbidden by to administer the sacraments, a lady asked him to baptize her son. Father Kurti accepted and baptized the boy secretly. This led to him getting re-arrested and sentenced to death. Father Kurti was executed on 20 October 1971[1] (according to another source, February 1972[3]), although the Vatican became aware of it only in 1973, because it was kept secret from local authorities.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 The servant of God priest Shtjefen Kurti, Catholic Church of Shkoder, Martyrs Office, 2008, retrieved 2013-10-09
  2. ↑ Miranda Vickers (28 January 2011). The Albanians: A Modern History. I.B.Tauris. pp. 195–. ISBN 978-0-85771-025-3.
  3. ↑ Minnesota Lawyers International Human Rights Committee (1990), Human rights in the People's Socialist Republic of Albania: a report of the Minnesota Lawyers International Human Rights Committee, 1990, MLIHRC, p. 90, ISBN 9780929293059, retrieved 2013-10-09
  4. ↑ Don Shtjefën Kurti/ Si u pushkatua prifti katolik [Don Shtjefën Kurti / How the Catholic priest was shot] (in Albanian), abc News, 2011-09-13, retrieved 2013-10-09

External links

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