The extraordinary life of Ernest Simoni, the 98-year-old cardinal with whom Leo XIV carried out the Urbi et Orbi Blessing at Easter
At the Urbi et Orbi Easter Blessing, Leo XIV had just two cardinals next to him. The first is Dominique Mamberti, he was there exclusively for practice. The second, however, was a completely personal choice of the Pontiff. It does not play an institutional role, but is a real institution. This is Ernest Simoni, who on 7 April 1956 celebrated the 70th anniversary of his priestly ordination. An extraordinary life lived as a martyr, oppressed for decades by the Albanian communist regime. The cardinal, visibly moved, summarized his story thus: «I never would have thought I would get to celebrate my 70th anniversary, I never would have imagined it when I was in front of machine guns aimed at me, while they threatened to shoot me, I never would have imagined it while I was in prison, while I was doing forced labor in the mines and sewers».
The story of the cardinal who survived communism
Simoni he was arrested on December 24, 1963immediately after the Christmas Vigil, on the accusation of having celebrated masses in memory of the American president John Fitzgerald Kennedy, killed a few weeks earlier in Dallas. Considered “enemy of the people” by the communist regime of Enver Hoxha, imprisoned and ferociously tortured, he was initially sentenced to death. Then the sentence was commuted to 25 years in prison and forced labor.
Despite this, he never denied the Christian faith. Indeed, constantly putting one’s life at risk, he continued to practice his priestly ministry clandestinely: «I secretly celebrated the Holy Mass from memory in Latin, using mixed particles of flour and water which, after the consecration by the power conferred on me by the Church with priestly ordination, became the Body of Jesus». Simoni is also keen to remember «the many fellow prisoners killed in odium fideiinnocent, only because they were ardent followers of Jesus, men and women who gave their blood for the Holy Church.”
The mass celebrated with the ancient rite
Even after his release, the communist regime forced him to work in the dark tunnels of the Spac mines and, finally, in the sewers of Scutari. Finally, in 1990, with the fall of the communist regime, he returned to carrying out his priesthood normally. Simoni became a cardinal very late, in 2016, at the age of 88. Today, despite his age, he is still very active. He lives in Florence and celebrates Mass with the ancient rite, often wearing traditional vestments dating back to the era before the Second Vatican Council.
A singular presence alongside Leo XIV, which does not only concern the recognition of his martyrdom in life. No, his participation also has a less symbolic and more liturgical meaning, and brings us back to that «vetus ordo», to the ancient rite celebrations so dear to Cardinal Simoni. Those celebrations that Benedict XIV (as a great conservative Pope) had reintroduced, while the progressive Francis had definitively suppressed. It remains to be seen which side the current Pontiff intends to take.
