Monsignor Rrok Mirdita, archbishop of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Tirana – Durrës, Chairman of the Episcopal Conference of Albania (1996-2000), passed away. He was born in Kllezen, Ulcinj, in 1939. He completed high school in his hometown. He completed his higher studies in theology and philosophy in Zadar and Zagreb. On July 5, 1965, he was ordained a priest and a year later (1966) he was appointed administrator of the churches of St. Paul and St. Peter in Salcë, where he served for 3 years. He was appointed parish priest of the church of John the Baptist in his hometown. He was sent to New York (USA) to serve the Albanian Catholic community in Bronx. He founded the radio program “Voice of the Catholic Church ‘Our Lady of Shkodra'” (1985). On July 1, 1986, he was appointed administrator of the new Albanian Catholic church “Our Lady of Good Counsel”. On September 28, 1989, he was appointed parish priest of the new parish “Our Lady of Shkodra”, founded by him in New York. He was ordained archbishop of Durrës and Tirana (April 25, 1993). Since 1994, he has been the president of the Albanian Caritas. On January 25, 2005, Pope John Paul II gave the Episcopal See of Tirana – Durrës the title “Metropolitan Archdiocese of Tirana – Durrës”. He passed away in 2015. (In the photo: Rrok Mirdita)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 2 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 1734.
Photo: © https://gazetamapo.al/rrok-mirdita-sipas-ungjillit/
Graphic processing: AHCF
