On July 2, 2025, Father Andrzej Michoń, a Polish Redemptorist and missionary in Albania, received a licentiate degree in Moral Theology from the Alphonsian Academy, Pontifical Higher Institute of Moral Theology in Rome. Father Michoń has been working since 2014 in the capital of Albania, Tirana, in the new Redemptorist missionary community desired by the Redemptorist Conference of Europe.
Covid-19, began on January 30, 2020, by the World Health Organization as a global health threat, caused a global crisis that lasted more than two years, which confronted individuals and entire societies with unprecedented problems. It was precisely the context of the global crisis caused by the pandemic that prompted Father Michoń to integrate this situation in his licentiate thesis, entitled “The Crisis in Moral Growth in the Light of the Magisterium of Pope Francis.”
In today’s world, where “feelings of belonging to humanity itself are weakening” and “a comfortable, cold and globalized indifference dominates”, we very often witness the degradation of interpersonal relationships. For this reason, Pope Francis, in his teaching, indicates the ways to build high-quality interpersonal relationships, necessary for a satisfying life. In his thesis, Father Michoń identified and analyzed four key elements of relationships with others, according to the pastoral strategy of Pope Francis. These are the encounter (a path of personal and social development), dialogue (a tool for understanding and development), universal brotherhood and tenderness (understood as a path to humanization).
Father Michoń recalls that his studies at the Alphonsian Academy in Rome, in addition to his intellectual formation, allowed him to meet many interesting people, to meet professors and students from all over the world. He is convinced that this experience will help him to continue his missionary work in Albania, where 70% of the population is Muslim. “I wanted to study moral theology,” says Father Andrzej, “because it teaches how to build peace between people and between religions.”
The Alphonsian Academy in Rome has existed for over 75 years as a center of research and training in the field of moral theology, at the service of the Congregation and the Church. Currently, about 30 Redemptorists from all over the world study at the Alphonsian Academy and at other pontifical universities in Rome.
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