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Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published September 29, 2006

Rochester Hills – Albanian President Alfred Moisiu and Cardinal Adam Maida unveiled the new bronze equestrian statue of Albania's national hero, Gjerge Kastrioti, known as Skanderbeg, on the grounds of St. Paul (Albanian) Church last Sunday.

Photo by Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic Albanian President Alfred Moisiu and Cardinal Adam Maida unveil the base of the equestrian statue of Albanian national hero Skanderbeg.

Addressing the crowd of some 4,500 people who gathered after the 12:30 p.m. Mass for the unveiling, President Moisiu spoke of the success of Skanderbeg, who lived from 1405-1468, and whose efforts not only won for a time independence for Albania from Turkish domination, but also stopped the advance of the Ottoman Turks in their drive to conquer Europe.

Skanderbeg's example showed how even a numerically small people could make a big difference in the history of the world if they had it in their heart and soul to do so, he said, speaking in Albanian with an interpreter translating his message into English.

Referring to the Albanian soldiers "fighting and dying alongside Americans" in Iraq, President Moisiu said Albanians would always recognize two great debts to the United States – first for the intervention of the United States in preventing further partition of Albania at the end of World War I, and second for U.S.-led NATO intervention to prevent ethnic cleansing of Albanians living in the Serbian province of Kosovo in 1999.

Photo by Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic Fifteenth-century Albanian hero Skanderbeg (Skenderbeu in Albanian) is memorialized in a new statue.

He also spoke of the gratification he felt on seeing Albanian-Americans striving to maintain the best of Albanian culture in the United States.

Cardinal Maida also hailed the example of Skanderbeg in his remarks at the unveiling, as well as praising Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, also an Albanian.

Earlier, during the Mass, the cardinal praised the parishioners and their pastor, Fr. Anton Kcira, for the accomplishment of building their new church on a 29-acre parcel in Rochester Hills four years ago, replacing the smaller church in Warren that the 1,800-family parish had outgrown.

"Your presence among us has truly been a blessing to our Church of Detroit, and in particular, I know that you join me in thanking Fr. Kcira for his outstanding pastoral leadership and the accomplishment of building this magnificent worship space, the largest Albanian church in the world," Cardinal Maida said.

"I am particularly pleased to see the great number of young people in your congregation today; I commend the parents and all those who have kept the faith alive from generation to generation, even in the dark days of communism," he added.

Photo by Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic An Oakland County sheriff's deputy holds back the crowd, estimated at 4,500, gathered for the statue unveiling ceremony.

Fr. Kcira said it was a great and joyous day for the Albanians.

Skanderbeg was "one of the greatest heroes Europe has known," Fr. Kcira said of the subject of the new statue: "His life was devoted to thwarting attempts by the Ottoman Empire to occupy Albania and, more broadly, Europe. Arguably, Western Europe and the Renaissance would not have been able to flourish but for the valiant efforts of Skanderbeg."

Skanderbeg is too little known in today's world, in Fr. Kcira's opinion. This was not always the case – a pope of the time hailed him as the "Champion of Christ," 18th-century Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi wrote an opera about him, and he was the subject of a poem by 19th-century American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

A hero   The life and deeds of Gjergj Kastrioti inspired a poem by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Here's an excerpt from Longfellow's "Skanderbeg": Anon from the castle walls The crescent banner falls, And the crowd beholds instead, Like a portent in the sky, Iskander's banner fly, The Black Eagle with double head; And a shout ascends on high, For men's souls are tired of the Turks, And their wicked ways and works, That have made of Ak-Hissar A city of the plague; And the loud, exultant cry That echoes wide and farIs: "Long live Scanderbeg!"

"The role of Skanderbeg at that time was great for the Balkan region and the world, like today we have George Bush fighting against terrorism in the world," Fr. Kcira said.

The statue, which stands 12 feet high above its stone base, was done by Albanian-American sculptor Kreshnik Xhiku of Fairfax, Va. Skanderbeg was a Catholic, but even some Muslim Albanians contributed to the statue's $90,000 cost.

"The base would have cost us another $90,000, but people in the parish donated the materials and labor," Fr. Kcira said.

St. Paul (Albanian) Parish is at 525 Auburn Road in Rochester Hills, (248) 844-8201.