Viva Cristo Rey!

Under the dictatorship of Enver Halil Hoxha, Albania's Catholics suffered severe persecution, including Kolë "Gjon" Shllaku, who was arrested and tortured for weeks.

In January 1946, he was subjected to a show trial, and his sentence was publicly read, on February 22, when he was sentenced to death.

At 6 a.m., on March 4, as he stood in the Catholic cemetery of Scutari and faced the firing squad of eight soldiers armed with machine guns, he said, "Give my farewell to my Franciscan brothers and to all those I know and who know me."

The common cry of the condemned was: "Long live Christ the King! Long live Albania!"

VIVA CRISTO REY!