Apparition Hill

Cardinal Ernest Simoni climbed Medjugorje’s Apparition Hill while praying the Rosary on the eve of the 44th anniversary of the first reported apparitions. The 97-year-old Albanian cardinal, described by Pope Francis as a “living martyr”, was assisted up the hill as pilgrims gathered at the Bosnian shrine Yesterday, on the eve of the 44th anniversary of the first apparitions of Medjugorje, Cardinal Ernest Simoni climbed Apparition Hill while praying the Rosary. Videos from the event show the cardinal being assisted up Apparition Hill. At points where the ground became too rough, he was carried on a stretcher by the young men accompanying him. This year marks the 97-year-old Albanian prelate’s 70th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood and the 10th anniversary of his creation as a cardinal. Described as a “living martyr” by Pope Francis, Cardinal Simoni endured decades of persecution for his priesthood. Under Albania’s communist regime, the then Fr Simoni was arrested after he celebrated a Mass for the assassinated President John F. Kennedy. He was shown a death warrant and, as he told Reuters in a 2016 interview, “I was to hang because I had told the people we should die for Christ.” His persecutors tried to force him to abandon his faith and even offered him marriage to a “beautiful girl”. He was not executed, but instead sentenced to 18 years of forced labour, 12 of which he spent in a mine, for celebrating the Mass and for agitation against the regime. While in prison, he continued to preach to fellow prisoners. Once released, he worked as a manual labourer and ministered the sacraments in secret. He is the only surviving member of the clergy of Albania’s post-war communist regime to have survived the mass persecution of the authorities. His years in prison spanned the liturgical reforms of the 1960s, so he continued to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass as best he could from memory during his imprisonment. When he met Pope Francis during the pontiff’s 2014 visit to Albania, Francis was so struck by his story that he made him a cardinal at the 2016 consistory. His appointment required a dispensation, since he was not a bishop. He also appeared alongside Pope Leo on Easter Sunday this year and met the pontiff again during a private audience on 27 April. Despite being 97, Cardinal Simoni has remained active in maintaining links with communities attached to the Traditional Latin Mass. He is a defender of the older liturgical form and has longstanding associations with traditionalist institutes, including regular visits to the International Seminary of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest at Gricigliano, near Florence. He has been present there for major liturgical celebrations, including the Feast of St Joseph, and has spent periods such as Holy Week with the community in recent years. During a pontifical Latin Mass for the Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage, celebrated by Cardinal Raymond Burke in St Peter’s Basilica on 25 October 2025, Cardinal Simoni recited the prayer to St Michael the Archangel, describing it as a reminder that “the Devil exists, and the Church continues to fight”.