Religious communities, particularly the Catholic Church, have frequently been persecuted by regimes trying to consolidate power. But Albania\u2019s ruthless Communist-era dictator, Enver Hoxha, went further than most, culminating with the 1967 proclamation of the country as the world\u2019s first constitutionally atheist state.<\/p>\n
It is no coincidence that most of the newly declared martyrs were priests. Hoxha reserved a special ire for the country\u2019s Catholic clergy\u201d\u201dthe spiritual, intellectual and political leaders of a religious minority making up little more than a 10th of the population. His hatred stemmed partly from the crucial role the clergy had played in Albania\u2019s cultural and political rebirth.<\/p>\n
Most Albanian priests had been educated in foreign universities, and they represented a vital part of the country\u2019s intellectual elite. Under the motto \u201cReligion and Fatherland,\u201d\u009d the clergy promoted a traditional reformist patriotism that sought to protect local customs while simultaneously integrating Albania into Europe. They argued for a free and equal state for all of Albania\u2019s citizens, regardless of social or religious background. As such, they embodied a serious threat to Communist rule.<\/p>\n