Monsignor Frano Illia was born in the village of Juban in Shkodra, senior catholic priest, Metropolitan Archbishop of Shkodra (1993–1997), ethnographer and translator. He was ordained a priest on December 18, 1943. He served in Tirana, Shkodër, Milot and its surroundings. In 1967 he was arrested, and on April 25, 1968 he was sentenced to death, which was later commuted to life imprisonment and forced labor. He was appointed bishop of Shkodra and ordained by Pope John Paul II during his visit to Albania on April 25, 1993. (In the photo: Frano Illia)
Text: Encyclopedic dictionary of victims of communist terror – Vol. IV , “West Print”, Institute for the Study of Crimes and Consequences of Communism, Tirana, 2015, page 15-16.
Photo: © Institute for the Study of Crimes and Consequences of Communism
Graphic processing: AHCF
