SW News: Catholics in the Eastern European nation of Albania are mourning the demise of a Franciscan nun who was a symbol of courage, grit and resistance during the harsh years of communist oppression in the country. On the night of January 1, Sr Maria Kaleta passed away in her convent in Shkoder at the age of 92.

During the years of communist rule under dictator Enver Hoxha when the Church was forced to conduct much of its religious activities clandestinely, this nun secretly baptized many children using water from the river and the simple formula of “I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. Among those baptized were children of communist officials as well. Professing the faith and practising it was a criminal offence punishable with imprisonment and torture in those days.

She recounted to the Holy Father in Tirana cathedral how she was approached by a woman one day with a child in her arms seeking baptism. Sr Maria knew that the woman was the wife of a communist official. She told the woman that there was no way the child could be baptized as there was neither water nor anything to carry it. It was then that the woman said that there was a canal nearby. Moved by the faith of the woman, the nun took her plastic shoe and fetched water from the canal and baptized the baby without any hesitation.

Among those baptized by the nun is the present bishop of Sapë in northeast Albania Monsignor Simon Kulli. Her testimony of faith and courage had a profound impact on Pope Francis when he visited Albania in 2014 during which he granted an audience to Sr Maria. Years later, the Holy Father pointed to Sr Maria as a good example of how the Church can be a loving mother.

During her meeting with the Vicar of Christ, she recollected how she was called at a tender age when she did not have any idea of what it is to be a nun. Although she was the only child of her parents, her uncle, who was a priest, helped her discern her vocation and take the veil. Interestingly, his cause for sainthood is proceeding.
During the communist regime when all religious orders were outlawed, Sr Maria was forced to return home and undertake apostolic activities left incomplete by her uncle priest who was in jail. Given the acute shortage of priests, she obtained permission to keep the consecrated hosts in her house and give it to the sick other underground Catholics.

Later, after the fall of communism, Sr Maria was able to rejoin the convent when the new government permitted the reopening of churches and religious houses.