Serafin Koda

Blessed Serafin Koda was born on 25 April 1893 in the historic village of Janjevo (also known as Janjevë) in Kosovo, then part of the Ottoman Empire. The village was home to a longstanding community of Catholic Croats. From this Catholic setting he entered the Order of Friars Minor, receiving the religious name Serafin, and pursued his formation in Franciscan houses of the region, including those linked to the major Catholic centre of Shkodër in northern Albania.

After studies in philosophy and theology he was ordained a priest and spent his ministry in Franciscan parishes in Albania. The Friars Minor had served the area since the Middle Ages and were central to Catholic life among Albanians. His priestly work unfolded across the end of Ottoman rule, Albanian independence, the interwar period, the Second World War, and the communist takeover.

Once Enver Hoxha’s regime was established, religion was systematically attacked: churches were closed, orders suppressed, and clergy arrested. In 1947 Father Serafin was seized by the authorities, imprisoned in Lezhë, and subjected to severe torture. He died on 11 May 1947 from the injuries inflicted on him, remaining faithful to the end.

After the fall of communism the cause of the Albanian martyrs advanced. On 5 November 2016 he was beatified in Shkodër with thirty-seven companions killed between 1945 and 1974 out of hatred for the faith. Cardinal Angelo Amato presided in the name of Pope Francis. The Blessed Martyrs of Albania are commemorated on 5 November; their witness recalls the Church’s endurance in the only country that, in 1967, constitutionally banned all religious practice.