Father Pjetër Meshkalla was born in the city of Shkodra on September 25, 1901. He received his first lessons at the Pontifical Seminary in Shkodra. He then continued his studies in Linz, Austria, in Gorica, Slovenia, and in the city of Naples, Italy. In 1931, he was ordained in Shkodra as a Jesuit priest.
His activities are numerous. In 1934, he founded the Don Bosco district for the education of youth in Tirana, while in 1937 he founded another important center, also in Tirana, that of Saint Peter. His first arrest was in 1946. Father Pjetër Meshkalla was sentenced to 15 years in prison, which he spent in Burrel prison. Due to the tireless sermons he preached during his imprisonment, he was called the “Angel of the Dungeons”. In 1967, on March 29, in the hall of the Pedagogical Institute in Tirana, a meeting was organized to expose the religious activity of Father Pjetër Meshkalla, who on April 29, 1967 was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the second time. He was released at the age of 78 and lived as a true missionary of Christ, until he passed away on July 28, 1988.
Twice imprisoned by the communist regime, Father Pjetër Meshkalla remains a symbol of the Catholic intelligentsia persecuted by communism. He was the first cleric to be honored with the title "Torch of Democracy" in 1992.
