“Do you want to announce the Gospel to the poor? Come to Rrëshen”: the appeal was made by mgr. Gjergji Meta, bishop of Rrëshen, a diocese in the north-east of Albania. A region, the bishop explains himself in an open letter, “that is poor, affected by the emigration” of young labour, where the churches might eventually empty out. Hence his decision to call on priests, nuns and religious people: “This is a call to the mission in the diocese of Rrëshen. A call to live a wonderful evangelical experience: announcing the Gospel to the poor”. “Through the efforts of lots of priests, missionary men and women, here in 26 years a lot has been done for the region, but over those same years 60% of the population has migrated to the big cities, such as Tirana, Durres, Lezhe and southern Albania. Few families have stayed on in the villages, most of them unable to move because they live in impassable mountain areas and are very poor. If they could, they too – the bishop states – would run away, they would go somewhere else so they could educate their children and have a more dignified life”. There are still quite a lot of people going to church, “but not so many as the people who say they are Catholics, because there are a lot of indifferent, agnostic and atheist people among them. The Kingdom of God needs to be announced to them”.
Well, “to deal with this situation we are just 6 priests, including the bishop, and 7 female orders. We have nearly 40 churches and chapels scattered all over the region, as well as many groups of families living in remote villages that are far from the centre of the diocese. So, I call on all those who wish, priests, missionary men and women, especially diocesan priests, to come to Rrëshen to evangelise the poor, the distant, the indifferent and thus evangelise themselves”. Lastly, one more comment from mgr. Meta: “Come and announce the Gospel to the poor, and the poor will evangelise you!”.