“Protect the brotherhood under the flag and the eagle, these are your treasures.” This is the meaningful message that Pope Francis left to several Albanian clerics, whom he met in 2023 at the Vatican. One of them shows the emotions of this meeting and the special message.
Father Vangjeli from the Orthodox Metropolis of Korça is one of the clergy who in 2023 had the opportunity to meet Pope Francis during a visit to the Vatican.
In addition to the emotions surrounding this meeting, the cleric recalls that the Pope's message to the Albanian clergy during that meeting was very significant and directly related to the symbolic gifts that the Albanian clergy brought to the Pope.
"In 2023, together with a group of clergy from all religious communities in the city of Korça, we had a visit to Rome and specifically to the Vatican where we had the opportunity to meet Pope Francis. We prepared two gifts here, one of which was a national flag painted with an inscription in Albanian and Latin: All brothers. But also a cane that had the head of a double-headed eagle carved on it. And there were some symbolic but meaningful gifts for what we wanted to take there. The thing he told us and that stuck in my mind was this: 'Protect, protect, protect because this is your treasure'. It was an extraordinary moment, the way he encouraged all of us clergy, for what we should do for those we had brought as a gift," Father Vangjel Sotiri told A2 CNN.
One of the most powerful voices for what the world is today, Father Vangjeli hopes that Francis' successor will also be a powerful voice for the values that humanity needs today.
"He was one of the most powerful and direct voices in the situation the world is in today. Let's hope that whoever he is, will again be a powerful voice for harmony and peace, and for love and unity among people," said Father Vangjel Sotiri. (A2 Televizion)
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