With deep sorrow we announce that on Saturday, November 29, 2025, at the age of 52, Mons. Simon Kulli, Bishop of Sapë in Albania, Commissioner of the Albanian Bishops’ Conference for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers, and member of the Executive Committee of the European Federation of Catholic Medical Associations (FEAMC), passed away suddenly.
Mons. Simon Kulli was born on February 14, 1973, in Pistull, in the municipality of Vau i Dejës in northern Albania. After completing his studies at the Interdiocesan Seminary in Shkodër, he was ordained a priest on June 2, 2000, in the cathedral of Shkodër. He belonged to one of the first generations of priests ordained in Albania after the fall of the communist regime, which gave his ministry a profound historical and spiritual significance from the very beginning.
Following the death of Bishop Lucjan Avgustini in 2016, he was appointed diocesan administrator of Sapë, and in June 2017 Pope Francis appointed him Bishop of the same diocese. He received episcopal ordination on September 14, 2017. Mons. Kulli served his faithful with dedication, humility, and wisdom, always with an open heart and deep concern for the spiritual needs of the people entrusted to him. On February 20, 2024, he was elected Vice President of the Bishops’ Conference of Albania.
Mons. Kulli left a lasting impact not only on the life of the Church but also on Albanian society. He was a strong supporter of educational and healthcare initiatives, particularly those connected with the Our Lady of Good Counsel Foundation in Tirana, under whose auspices Albania’s first Catholic University Hospital and the country’s first Catholic University – with its School of Medicine – were established.
His commitment to Catholic physicians and medical pastoral care was especially evident from 2021 onward, when he organised the first meeting of Catholic doctors in Albania and participated in founding the Albanian Catholic Medical Association, becoming its first president. He was an active participant in FEAMC, representing Albanian Catholic doctors and contributing to international discussions on medical ethics, dialogue and human dignity.
He also organised and hosted the significant international symposium “Interreligious Dialogue in Medicine in Europe” in Tirana in 2023, initiated by then FEAMC President Prof. Vincenzo Defilippis. In 2024 he took part in the symposium “Professional and Ethical Challenges in Medicine During Wartime” held in Đakovo/Vukovar, Croatia, organised by FEAMC and the Croatian Catholic Medical Association, where he delivered a memorable lecture on “The Testimony of the Albanian People During the Kosovo War.”
Despite his many responsibilities, Mons. Kulli remained a man of deep humility, joy, and warmth. He readily shared his testimony of faith and his experience growing up under the communist regime, including during his visit to the international headquarters of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) in February 2025, where he spoke about the Albanian martyrs and the strength of hope that sustained the Church through persecution (read interview).
His premature passing leaves a great void in the Church, in Albanian society, and among his many collaborators and friends across Europe, especially within the European Federation of Catholic Medical Associations. Yet we remain profoundly grateful for his life, his steadfastness and gentleness, and his tireless service to the Church and to humanity.
We commend his noble soul to the mercy of God and pray that he may rest in eternal peace.
Rok Čivljak
FEAMC President
