Mons. George Frendo (President of the Episcopal Conference of Albania and Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Tirana-Durrës) was the President of the Interreligious Council of Albania for the year 2020.
Who is Mons. George Frendo?
Mons. George Anthony Frendo was born in Qormi, Malta, on April 4, 1946, being the fifth of seven children in the family. After completing primary and secondary school, in 1962 he entered the Order of Preachers (Dominicans). He then pursued studies in philosophy and theology at the Collegium Philosophico-Theologicum Sancti Thomae Aquinatis in Rabat, Malta. He was ordained a priest on April 7, 1969.
STUDIES AND TEACHING
From the College of St. Thomas in Rabat, he earned a Licentiate in Theology with the thesis Baptism as the Sacrament of Faith in the Doctrine and Practice of the Church. He continued his studies at the Pontificia Universitas Sancti Thomae Aquinatis in Rome, in the Faculty of Canon Law and in 1973 graduated as a Doctor in Canon Law by defending the thesis Indissolubility and Divorce in the Theology of Thirteenth Century Scholastics.
Upon returning to Malta, he immediately began teaching Dogmatic Theology at the Collegium Philosophico-Theologicum Sancti Thomae Aquinatis of the Dominicans; he also taught several courses in Dogmatic Theology (Sacraments, Christology, and Eschatology) at the Faculty of Theology in Malta as well as a course on contemporary atheism at the Seminary of Gozo. In Albania, he taught Trinitarian Theology and Christology at the Interdiocesan Seminary in Shkodër.
In Albania, he taught Trinitarian Theology and Christology at the Interdiocesan Seminary in Shkodër.
OFFICES IN THE DOMINICAN ORDER
1974–1979: Teacher of novices and students
1979-1981: Local Superior
1981–1989: Parish priest in a Dominican parish in Malta
1989-1997: Provincial of the Dominicans in Malta
1992–1996: President of the Conference of Major Superiors in Malta
OFFICES IN THE ARCHDIOCESE OF MALTA
1974-1980: ‘Defensor Vinculi’ (Defender of the marriage bond) in the Church Tribunal
1980–1989: Judge of the Interdiocesan Court of Second Instance
Member of the commission established by the Maltese Episcopal Conference for the drafting of complementary norms following the promulgation of the new Code of Canon Law
CHURCH OFFICES IN ALBANIA
Member of the commission established by the Maltese Episcopal Conference for the drafting of complementary norms following the promulgation of the new Code of Canon Law
1998–2005: Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Tirana-Durrës
1992–1996: President of the Conference of Major Superiors in Malta
2001–2006: Member of the European General Council for Major Religious Superiors
2001- 2006: Judiciary Vicar of the Interdiocesan Tribunal.
On 23rd of September 2006 he became Auxiliary Bishop of Tirana.
In 2007, he was appointed a member of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue
In May 2012 he was chosen to be the Secretary General of the Episcopal Conference.
On December the 3rd 2016 he was proclaimed Archbishop of Tirana-Durrës.
On February the 5th 2018 he was elected President of the Episcopal Conference of Albania.
From January 2020 until the end of 2020, he was Chairman of the Interreligious Council of Albania.
He is the author of various books of doctrinal or spiritual nature (e.g., the Eucharist, the Sacraments, the Most Holy Mary, three catechetical books for the three years of preparation for the great Jubilee, the family, contemporary atheism, a compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Eucharistic adorations, etc.)
He has had the experience of many international meetings, as provincial of the Dominicans in Malta, then as president of the Conference of Major Superiors in Malta and in Albania, as a member of the European General Council for Major Religious Superiors, and also as a delegate on behalf of the Albanian Episcopal Conference.
