Ernest Simoni

Ernest Simoni Troshani (born 18 October 1928) is an Albanian cardinal of the Catholic Church.

He was created a cardinal in a consistory held on 19 November 2016 by Pope Francis.

Life
Ernest Simoni was born in 1928 in Troshani in the Albanian Kingdom.

On 24 December 1963, he was imprisoned by the Communist authorities after offering a Mass for the repose of assassinated President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Ernest Simoni was tortured and even offered marriage to leave his faith. He was sentenced to death, but the sentence was converted into a prison term and he spent 28 years at penal labour, first in a mine and then in a sewage canal.

On 21 September 2014, he met Pope Francis during his apostolic visit to Albania and provided the pope with his own testimony on his experiences under the Communist regime.

On 9 October 2016, Pope Francis announced that he would create Simoni a cardinal in the consistory held on 19 November of the same year. Canon 351 of the Code of Canon Law requires that all cardinals must be bishops, but Simoni was given a papal dispensation from the requirement of episcopal consecration.

At the consistory, he was assigned the titular church of Santa Maria della Scala. As of 2019, he had not yet received episcopal consecration.

Honors
In 2017, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented at an awards ceremony in London.