The story of Dom Stjefën Kurti is one of those cases that transcends the boundaries of imagination. He became a martyr during the communist dictatorship, who faced the bullet because he baptized a newborn child. He gave his blessing to a life, only to lose his own life with conscience, after having previously spent time in the prisons of the communist dictatorship. Dom Shtjefni's life was just as difficult in Kosovo, where he came from. Dom Shtjefni was born in Ferizaj, Kosovo on December 24, 1897, into a patriotic family known in this area. After finishing primary school in Ferizaj, he continued at the Pontifical Seminary of Shkodra. Around 1914, he finished high school and earned the right to continue his theological studies in Rome, completing them with very good results and mastering five foreign languages, including Latin, German and French. During the years he worked in Kosovo, Dom Shtjefën Kurti did not stop denouncing the mistreatment, torture and violence inflicted on the Albanian population of Kosovo by the Serbian dictatorial system. The collected materials were systematized and arranged in the form of a petition, and from them was born the memorandum of three prominent clerics, addressed to the UN, on May 5, 1930, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. This memorandum was conceived in 6 chapters: Protection of life, protection of freedom, the right to property, the right to use language, the right to education and the right to practice religion for all Albanians without distinction. Therefore, the newspaper “Drita”, from Ferizaj, would emphasize: “…These clerics will not remain in history only for the petition addressed to the UN in Geneva, but also for reflecting other complaints about the Albanian national issue”.
While feeling the danger that was threatening him from the Serbs, Dom Shtjefën Kurti decided to escape, coming to Albania in 1930. He immediately began the work of priests, where Dom Shtjefën Kurti was initially named parish priest in Shënpremte, where he stayed for a short time, only two years. He moved to Tirana where he distinguished himself for the establishment and functioning of many cultural and artistic, literary, theatrical and religious circles, which aimed at the religious and patriotic education of the masses, but the ordeal of terrible suffering for the Catholic clergy began in 1946, after the communists came to power, who extended the dictatorship under the dictate of violence. On October 27, 1946, after the parish was surrounded, the State Security forces arrested him on the charge: "A collaborator with the terrorist organization of Sami Qeribashi and agitation and propaganda against the popular government."
This arrest came as a result of the refusal to accept a call made by the dictator Enver Hoxha, for Dom Shtjefni to take over the leadership of the Catholic and Orthodox religions in Albania, on condition that he renounce his ties with the Vatican. Dom Shtjefni's refusal was categorical, he told them: "I cannot betray my ideal, as you have betrayed Kosovo, and now you want to sell Albania to Tito". At the age of 50, he was forced to try the cold prison cells. Initially, to vent their hatred towards him, the communist rulers sentenced him to death, but in the courtroom he declared: "I have not served anyone, only God and my ideal, since I put on the velado". The sentence was commuted to 25 years in prison. He was transferred to Burrel prison. The cruel interrogators tortured him in various ways, just to make him bow down, but God gave him strength, so his morale was high at every moment. After 17 years of deprivation of liberty, in November 1963, he left the prison cells, to feel temporarily free. Initially, he went to the parish of Tirana, where he spent some time with Don Mark Dushi, then returned to the church of Gurëz. Dom Shtejfni received the greatest blow to his soul in 1967, when religion was declared illegal and the places of worship were closed. For a cleric who had dedicated his entire life to believers, the opportunity to still serve was created. But state security was close, it followed and monitored his every move, and precisely because he secretly baptized a child, he was arrested for the second time at the age of 73.
In June 1970, Dom Shtjefën Kurti was forced to return to prison cells. He was arrested in the village of Gurëz, in Kurbin, on the ridiculous charge: "He performed religious services and baptized a child". He was forced to submit to inhuman torture, this time at an advanced age. The hypothesis of the existence of a hostile group that was "sabotaging" the agricultural economy, thus serving Belgrade, was even raised. In addition to Shtjefën Kurti, the "hostile" group included many others, sons of the best, the wisest of Gurëz. After being completely denigrated, they were brought to trial, on July 30, 1971, and the jury, improvising false witnesses, managed to give absurd and unconstitutional sentences. The great man Don Shtjefën Kurti was sentenced to death by firing squad, Bardhok Marku, 18 years in prison, Fran Ndoci, 14 years in prison for sabotage in the economy, Pjetër Biba 14 years in prison, Agustin Preçi – teacher, 13 years in prison, for propaganda among students against the popular government, Zef Nishi 12 years in prison and Ndue Leti 10 years in prison. The well-known cleric was shot at the age of 73 on the charge of having baptized a newborn child. In this way, Dom Shtjefni went before the firing squad, convinced that his death was worth it, precisely for the child he had baptized. /Taken from Kujto.al
