Welcoming speech by the President of the Republic, Sali Berisha, addressed to the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II Your Holiness, beloved Pope John Paul II, dear ladies and gentlemen, our brothers... ALBANIANS ARE WAITING FOR YOU WITH OPEN HEARTS Welcoming speech of the President of the Republic Sali Berisha addressed to the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II- Your Holiness, Beloved Pope John Paul II, Dear ladies and gentlemen, our brothers, Today the whole world shares its attention and honor with us. Together with all the countries that have had the happy occasion to welcome the Holy Father into their midst, we as a nation are experiencing the greatest joy and emotions in our history. For us this is a holy day of celebration, since whenever the message of love, peace, faith and hope comes to Albanian soil, whenever the message of motherhood[?] and purity comes from the father of all humanity and of the worldwide Catholic community. Your Holiness, Today the dear Albanian land is also experiencing within its space the message of peace and civilization. This is in keeping with its past, because this land was born from many of the first missionaries of Christianity. Your own message arrived as early as the first centuries on the Illyrian shores and penetrated human hearts, where many thousands of years later the thirst and great love for free people awakened. Many of the most distinguished apostles of Christianity, the great saints and martyrs, have their roots in this land, as in no other country on the continent. Aware that this human and democratic spirit, which springs from its ancient roots, exists strongly and powerfully, our nation has known how to stand with dignity in the darkest and most difficult days of its history. In the last days of our century it managed to become one of the nations most hopeful for a better future, even though the price of freedom for us in modern times was very painful. Our people resisted with determination a barbaric and inhuman dictatorship that tried to destroy every value and bring about its final collapse. Today, our country, more devastated than any other country of the former Eastern empire, awaits the visit of the Holy Father with a new and unusual love. This is because we as a people have as much thirst as desire for understanding, for freedom and for love. Today we feel the affection of the Holy Father as a direct expression of humanity’s compassion toward us. Your Holiness, In our country, shattered more than by any other regime, you are coming at a decisive moment for it. For years this country has languished under the burden of moral and material denial and has collapsed into abysses like no other. With extraordinary strength, the Albanian people are rising again and creating a new civic morality based on human dignity and freedom. Our success is also the success of all free peoples, of all Europe. Your Holiness, On this unforgettable day we bow with deep respect before you and convey our most sincere wish: welcome to Albania! The Albanian people will keep you in their hearts with their unstinting love. Our deepest gratitude is for you. We all love you and embrace you!. (To be continued on page 11)

To my dear people and your nation, I sincerely thank you for the hospitality, and I express my conviction that you will emerge victorious in the face of the difficulties that may strike you, and with God's help you will fulfill your best wishes. THE MESSAGE OF POPE JOHN PAUL II SENT TO PRESIDENT BERISHA On the way to Rome, from the plane, Pope John Paul II sent this message to the President of the Republic, Sali Berisha: "To my dear people and your nation, I sincerely thank you for the hospitality, and I express my conviction that you will emerge victorious in the face of the difficulties that may strike you, and with God's help you will fulfill your best wishes".

He comes to Tirana for a visit that will remain in our history books at the end of this century. Blessed! The first Pope of Rome, on the 2000th anniversary of the arrival of Catholicism in Albanian lands. He was received with special honors and with love by the Albanians. He met with President Berisha, who gave him the ancient amulet of the Albanian people as a gift to the strength of his spirit. The Pope gave President Berisha the silver medal of his pontificate and a bouquet of flowers. PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC SALI BERISHA, MEETS POPE JOHN PAUL II His wonderful visit to Albania was concluded by Pope John Paul II with a special meeting with the President of the Republic, Sali Berisha, at the presidential palace. There, about 30 minutes before the welcoming ceremony ended in front of the presidential palace, Berisha met inside the palace with the great figure, and they remained together for 40 minutes. According to an official notice from the press secretary in the office of the president, during the conversation, our head of state assured the Pope of Rome of the deep belief of the Albanians that this visit will remain one of the most important events in the history of the country and one of the greatest political and spiritual events in the 2000th anniversary of the arrival of Christianity on Albanian soil. President Berisha gave the Pope the ancient Albanian amulet, an enlarged silver copy of an object from the 3rd century BC that comes from the necropolis of Selca in Pogradec, which is a symbol of the strength and power of the human spirit. Meanwhile, His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, gave President Berisha the silver medal of his pontificate and a bouquet of flowers. Also, soon after this visit, which was a great and impressive experience in this journey of the Holy Father on Albanian soil, an album dedicated to this historic visit will be published, in order to bear witness more broadly in Albanian and foreign public opinion to this irreplaceable welcome, which unquestionably stands at a symbolic point in the current relations between Albania and the Vatican. As a sign of respect for the symbol of peace and faith, Pope John Paul II was received at the presidential palace with a special ceremony by President Berisha and his wife.

The Holy Father's speech at the farewell ceremony Mr. President, Honorable civil authorities, Brothers and sisters present here in Albania! The speech of the Holy Father at the farewell ceremony Mr. President, Honorable civil authorities, Brothers and sisters present here in Albania! I am being parted from an hour of joy and sorrow, because I am leaving Albania. You have become dear to me not only because of the beauty of your nature, the antiquity of your traditions and a culture with deep roots, but also because of your character, noble and generous, as well as the sacrifices you have endured as a people throughout your history. I have seen you freed from terrible oppression, after a long and exhausting run toward freedom and independence. With the desire to express in words as well the feelings that inspire me, I borrow the title of an article I received on the plane that brought me to Albania: "Friends with a big heart and the courage of a splendid democracy". In the name of God, I thank everyone who helped make this visit a reality. I think above all of the authorities of the country, of the organizers and of all those who, at different levels, took care that everything be carried out in order. Being convinced that this visit may have been useful to the country and to the entire Albanian people, my wish is that the pain and atrocities of the past be turned into inspiration to build a calmer, more prosperous and secure present and future. Above all, may you use it as a profound spiritual and moral awakening[?]. I hope that this will be a gift for Albania and the Balkans, and for the entire European continent, at a time when a new history is being written. Dear brothers and sisters, With force and many thoughts I bid you farewell, with the wish that everything may go well for you on your path. I know how often you have had to live with the experience of despair. But you have shown yourselves capable of following the path of peaceful coexistence and understanding. This is your greatest treasure. Keep it as a precious pearl. It can be a very important contribution to the peace of the Balkans and of the whole continent. Your homeland, cultivated through much toil and suffering, and destroyed and impoverished by a mad and inhuman regime, is rising from the ruins. For this to happen as quickly and as well as possible, you need reconciliation and determination to eliminate any polarization, to place your rebirth on the immovable pillars of truth, honesty, justice, freedom and solidarity. On these can be built a truly democratic society, worthy of true human beings and created according to God's desire. Dear brothers and sisters, Albania accompanied me in taking an essential step in my journey as Shepherd of the Universal Church: the first celebration of Easter. For me it was a particularly moving experience. People carry deep in their souls the wounds of the past. Nevertheless, they must learn and free themselves from hatred and revenge. I do not hide that this message found in you great and touching understanding. Upon all of you, my fatherly love and my blessing. Long live Albania! (To be continued on page 11)