On March 19, Albanian Cardinal Ernest Simoni at the age of 97 was among the last people to venerate the remains of St. Francis of Assisi before their return to a tomb in the crypt of the 13th-century Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, Italy, where the saint’s small skeleton has been contained in a plexiglass case since 1978.
Despite his mobility issues, Cardinal Ernest Simoni did not want to miss the immense grace of venerating the skeletal remains of St. Francis of Assisi. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Cardinal Ernest Simoni
St. Francis’ bones were on display in the church from Feb. 22 to March 22, when they were returned to the stone tomb in the crypt, located at the foot of the altar in the lower church.
The bones are not usually visible to the public. Pilgrims can visit and pray at the tomb itself, but the actual skeleton stays sealed inside the sarcophagus (protected within the nitrogen-filled plexiglass case since 1978).
According to the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, more than 370,000 pilgrims from all over the world were able to pray before his bones during that month.
Simoni, who studied at a Franciscan seminary from 1938 to 1948, was described by Pope Francis as “a living martyr” of the bloody communist persecution in Albania during the era of communist dictator Enver Hoxha.
The cardinal said: “I give thanks to the Lord for having allowed me to be a pilgrim in Assisi and to pray for peace and fraternity in the world before the remains of the great St. Francis — for me, a protector, father, and teacher whom I have always looked up to from my beloved Albania,” Vatican News reported.
Cardinal Ernest Simoni celebrates Mass at the Protomonastery of St.Clare. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Cardinal Ernest Simoni
The cardinal, who will celebrate the 70th anniversary of his ordination on April 7, described the day as “moving, seeing thousands of pilgrims of all ages, as well as so many young people who represent the hope and future of the Church arriving from all over the world to the city, which is par excellence a symbol of peace and faith, to pray and encounter the seraphic St. Francis, his great disciple St. Clare, and St. Carlo Acutis, a saint of our own times.”
Simoni, who was secretly ordained in 1956, 12 years after the rise of communism in Albania, personally endured the regime’s brutal persecution.
The priest was arrested in 1963 and sentenced to death but the sentence was commuted to forced labor. He spent 18 years in prison and was released in 1981. However, still considered “an enemy of the people” he was afterward forced to work cleaning out the sewers in the city of Shkodrë. He carried out priestly ministry clandestinely until the fall of the communist regime in 1990.
Ingenious ways to celebrate Mass in prison
During his imprisonment, the priest celebrated Mass daily, employing ingenious subterfuges to outwit the prison system in Albania, the world’s first officially declared atheist state, which prohibited all religious practice.
He offered Mass in Latin and his jailers believed he was merely babbling nonsense. His testimony moved Pope Francis to tears during his visit to Albania in 2014. Two years later, the pope named him a cardinal.
Despite his mobility issues, Simoni did not want to miss the immense grace of venerating the skeletal remains of St. Francis of Assisi in the year marking the 800th anniversary of his death. The cardinal recounted that this was one of the first pilgrimages he has undertaken.
Cardinal Ernest Simoni stands before the tomb of St. Carlo Acutis. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Cardinal Ernest Simoni
Simoni was only 10 years old the first time he crossed the threshold of the Franciscan convent in Shkodër, taking the name Friar Enrico, thus fulfilling his desire to live in poverty, following St. Francis’ example. During the communist regime, Simoni’s Franciscan formators and superiors were shot — accused of being enemies of the people — often right in front of the young novices.
In Assisi last week, Simoni celebrated Mass at the Protomonastery of St. Clare, prayed at the saint’s tomb, and met with the nuns inside the cloistered monastery.
370,000 pilgrims venerate remains of St. Francis
During the four weeks St. Francis’ body was on display, small groups of pilgrims filed beneath the frescoes of Giotto and Cimabue in the dim light to venerate the saint’s remains.
“We have been a fraternity gathered around Francis,” stated Friar Marco Moroni, custos of the Sacred Convent. “A fraternity of 370,000 people gathered here, and of many others throughout the world. A serene and prayerful fraternity, which sought to discover in the sign of a few poor and fragile bones, the full power of a life animated by the Spirit, which continues to bear fruit.”
“Many have asked me,” added Friar Giulio Cesareo, director of the communications office of the Sacred Convent, “whether I expected such a significant turnout, and I must say that I did: I had no doubt that there would be a great many of us. However, something I did not expect was the atmosphere — at once recollected and joyful: silence, patience, mobile phones in pockets”
Franciscans pray on March 22, 2026, before the remains of St. Francis of Assisi were returned to the crypt. | Credit: Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi
“The only explanation is that none of us came to see Francis; rather, it is he who, being alive, has called out to us to speak to our hearts and minds. This is therefore an opportunity to express our gratitude — also on behalf of the press office team at the Sacred Convent — to our many journalist colleagues and communications professionals: We have experienced a high degree of collaboration and immense professionalism. One of the keys to the exhibition’s success has been precisely this transparent, far-reaching, free, and organized work by the communication media,” he noted.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
