Type Jesuit, Catholic Website PjetërMeshkalla | Gender Coeducational Founded 1877 | |
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Established 1877; 140 years ago (1877) Former name Shkoder Saverian College | ||
Pjeter Meshkalla High School (Shkolla e Mesme Pjeter Meshkalla) in Shkodra, Albania, is a private Catholic secondary school founded in 1877 by Jesuits from Sicily. It is named for the Jesuit Peter Meshkalla, martyr of the Communist era.
History
The beginning of the Jesuit presence in Albania was in 1841 with some Jesuits from Sicily, while Albania was still under the Ottoman Empire and lacked the boundaries it has today. Evangelism remained problematic but in 1854 the Office of the Vatican Missionary Bishops and Albanians opened a seminary in Shkodra for the southern Balkans, entrusted to the Italian Jesuits.
In 1877 the Jesuits opened Shkoder Saverian College, first as a trade school and then as a classic liceum after the 1912 declaration of Albania's independence from the Ottoman Empire. This was accompanied by itinerant missionary work, alongside cultural, religious, artistic, musical, and theatrical groups, and publication of the magazine Immaculate Conception. In 1944 the Communists came to power. Repression and persecution of Catholics followed. Among the 40 deemed martyrs in Albania during this period were Fr. Daniel Dajan, Rector of the College and Saverian Seminary. and Brother John Pantalia who ran the publishing house.
Only in 1990 did a new regime lead to the return of the Jesuits. In February 1992 they opened in the Shkodra Archjbishopric a minor seminary. In 1994 they regained the property of the former Saverian College. A technical school and high school, recognized by the State, emerged. A seminary for all Albania, including philosophy and theology, opened in 1998 with help from Renovabis and the Italian Jesuits.
Middle School "Peter Meshkalla" replaced the earlier Saverian College, and has since 1998 grown into a secondary school accommodating 500 students (60% girls) in 18 classes. Their religious background is Christian (75% – mostly Catholics, some Orthodox) and Muslim (25%). About 25% are village children.
In 2000 the seminary split off from the middle school. On 29 June 2000 the first priests trained locally were ordained since the communist period. The School of Higher Studies of Philosophy and Theology is a promoter of the Albanian language and of dialogue with the Orthodox Church and with Islam.
College emblem: the two-headed eagle face, above: For God, For atme, and Progress.
Alumni include: Archbishop Lazer Mjeda, religious patriot, founder of the publication Shoqnive, patron of Latin letters; Bumēin, head of the Albanian delegation at the Paris Peace Conference; Senator Shqipnisë; Doci, politician, diplomat, and artist; Konica, elegant aristocrat of Albanian literature, a representative of the national policy of "pioneer of European civilization."