PRISTINA, Kosovo — Centuries ago, ethnic Albanians were forcibly converted to Islam when the Ottoman Empire conquered the Balkans. Many have lived as secret Christians since the 15th century, but now their descendants are coming out of hiding and Catholicism is experiencing a revival in a newly independent Kosovo.
“We have been living a dual life. In our homes we were Catholics but in public we were good Muslims,” Ismet Sopi of Klina, Kosovo, said. “We don’t call this converting. It is the continuity of the family’s belief.”
Sopi was among hundreds of ethnic Albanians gathering on Sundays at a partially completed church.
This year was the first time no one in his extended family fasted during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Sopi said.
When the Ottoman Turks conquered the Balkans in the 15th century, heavy taxes were imposed on Christians and many people publicly converted to Islam, Jahja Drancolli, a professor at Pristina Public University in Kosovo, said.
About 90 percent of Kosovo’s population is ethnic Albanian, and most are followers of Islam. But 50 or 60 percent of the population is emotionally connected to Roman Catholicism, according to Muhamet Mala, who also teaches at Pristina Public University.
Christian customs like coloring Easter eggs and celebrating Christmas continued to be practiced among Kosovo’s Albanians for centuries. When the Ottoman Empire began to crumble in the 19th century, some secret Catholics began to emerge from hiding but now the process has gained speed.
“We don’t make appeals to anyone to convert. People call us,” said Don Shan Zefi, a leader in the Kosovo Roman Catholic Diocese.
“We are not talking about individuals any more. There are inhabitants from dozens of villages who have contacted us.”
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