Vinçens Prennushi
Albanian Roman Catholic archbishop and blessed (1885-1949)
Feast: 20 March (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Kolë Prennushi was born at Shkodër, Albania, then under Ottoman rule, on 4 September 1885, and went to the Franciscan college there. He entered the Friars Minor on 12 December 1904 as Vinçenc and was ordained on 19 March 1908; he wrote many literary, political and religious works. He became Archbishop of Durrës.
He refused the dictator Enver Hoxha's demand to form a national Church loyal to the communist regime rather than to Rome. Arrested and sentenced to twenty years, he died of ill-treatment and torture in Durrës prison on 19 March 1949. He heads the list of 38 Albanian martyrs.
The miracles
As martyrs they were beatified without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
An archbishop who would not separate the Albanian Church from Rome and died in prison for it.
The cause
The cause continues. No postulation address is published here yet. Favours received through this person’s intercession, and offers of help, are best sent to the religious order or congregation they belonged to, or to the diocese where the cause was opened; either will pass them to the postulation.
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Martiri Albanesi
- Wikidata Q2527373 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Vinçenc Prennushi (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.