Weeks before its first horrendous beheading of an American journalist, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria gave Christians in Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, a stark one week choice: Convert or face execution. Christian houses were marked with a black "N" -- for Nazarene, a reference to Jesus.

Those who fled were, as a refugee named Raad Ghanem put it, "stripped of everything. Money, wallets, jewelry, ID, passports, watches, everything." For the first time in 16 centuries, there are no Catholic masses in Mosul on worship day.

When Francis’ express visit to Albania was announced, the crisis in Iraq had not yet worsened and ISIS’ project of destruction had not yet come under the spotlight. Two reasons drove the Pope to accept the invitation to visit “the land of the eagles”: he wanted to encourage peaceful coexistence and collaboration between different Christian religions and the Muslim community and express his support to a country that was recently bathed in the blood of martyrs, under one of the most ferocious communist regimes imaginable.

“I saw your suffering up close...” On the flight back from Albania, Francis met briefly with journalists travelling with him and only answered questions that were to do with his visit. He apologised for refusing to discuss other issues – one journalist tried to ask him about the Synod – but this was so as not to take away from the importance of today’s event.

On Sunday afternoon, September 21, Pope Francis met with leaders of Albania’s religious communities. During the meeting he spoke about the “insidious enemy” of a widespread intolerance towards those with different religious convictions. He said that the starting point for dialogue must be our own identity, otherwise we risk relativism.

By Andrea Tornielli

“Let no one consider themselves the “armour” of God while planning and carrying out acts of violence!” This was Francis’ cry during today’s meeting with Albania’s political authorities, including the President of the Republic of Albania, Bujar Nishami, on the first of his European trips. Francis is visiting the country’s capital Tirana, which endured one of the most terrible communist regimes but managed to pick itself up. Tirana became an example of peaceful co-existence and collaboration between different Christian denominations and Muslims.

In the part of his September 10 speech on confronting the Islamic State that probably drew the least attention, President Obama mentioned the need to help Christians and other minorities, expelled from cities and villages in northern Iraq, return from where they came. "We cannot allow these communities to be driven from their ancient homeland," he said.

Obama got that wrong. Christians, of whom around 120,000 have taken refuge in Iraqi Kurdistan, will not be going home even if their tormentors suddenly disappear.

Pope Francis' upcoming visit to Albania could encourage the leaders of the Catholic Church in a nation with a long history of religious persecution and political domination, said a priest in the country.

Father Don Carlo Lorenzo Rossetti, a Fidei donum priest from the Diocese of Rome, has been based in Albania since 2003. In a September 17 interview with Aid to the Church in Need, Fr. Rossetti said that despite significant challenges facing Catholics in the country, “the Church is rising again!”

The address Francis gave during audience on September 20 with bishops who were appointed over the last year was one significant speeches of his pontificate. It added new elements to the identikit of the ideal pastor which Francis presented on other occasions. The text is worth reading in its entirety in order to understand where it springs from and appreciate its depth.

As Pope Francis prepares to travel to Albania on Sunday, September 21, we shine the spotlight on this small Mediterranean nation with a painful past of occupation (starting with the Ottoman incursions in the 14th century) and communist repression.

Currently Albania, which is an official candidate for membership in the European Union, boasts a 23-year-old democracy and the peaceful coexistence of numerous ethnic and religious denominations.

At the headquarters of Caritas International in the Vatican, a meeting of Caritas Middle East was held on September 15-17, 2014, updating on the geopolitical and demographic situation, and the needs and actions already under way to assist the recovery conflict-affected populations. Various officials openly admit that they are overwhelmed.