In the morning of 20 January, the Prince and Grand Master Fra ‘Matthew Festing, accompanied by Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager, Grand Chancellors of the Order; Prince Dominique de La Rochefoucault-Montbel Great Hospitalier of the Order, arrives at the premises of the “Albanian Organization of the Order of Malta”.
He was received by the President of the Organization Mons. Lucjan Avgustini, the Executive Director Mr. Maranaj Marku, the staff, volunteers and collaborators of the Organization. During his stay in the premises of the Organization, the Grand Master was briefly informed about the projects and activities held during these 20 years. Later, the Grand Master, together with his delegation, visited the Malteser Kindergarten. They were closely introduced with the children and their educational personnel.
During this visit, Fra’ Matthew Festing and his delegation met with the Mayor of Shkodra, Mr. Lorenc Luka, the Archbishop of Shkodra, Mons. Angelo Massafra, and visited the “Museum of the Testimony and Memory Crimes of Communism”. Visiting the museum, Mr. Luka informed the audience about the need to honor and memorialize the victims of communism crimes and the need to inform the younger generation and Albanians living in emigration about the crimes, sentences, or the prisons of communist dictatorship in Albania.
This was then followed with a meeting, in which the Prince and Grand Master Fra’ Matthew Festing addressed his speech giving thanks to the collaborators of the “Albanian Organization of the Order of Malta” for their contribution during these 20 years. Another opening speech was that of Fr. Stefan Schwarz, initiator of the establishment of this organization, Mons. Lucjan Avgustini, Mr. Lorenc Luka and Mr. Maranaj Marku.
On January 19, Fra’ Matthew Festing was received by the President of Albania Mr. Bujar Nishani, President of the Parliament, Mr. Ilir Meta and the Prime Minister of Albania, Mr. Edi Rama. During the meeting, the Albanian leaders expressed their gratitude and that of the Albanian people about the valuable contribution given by the Sovereign Order of Malta through the “Albanian Organization of the Order of Malta” over the last 20 years in our country.