Ervin Shehu, specializing in Urology at the Campus Bio-Medico University Hospital, recounts the emotion of the Easter night in the Vatican, where he received the Sacraments from Pope Francis
10 April 2015 - “An intense, indescribable emotion. I didn't think it could be that strong. Like the peace inside that I felt right after. Something never experienced before”. Snapshots from the soul of a new Christian. This is how Ervin Shehu, a young specialist in Urology at the Campus Bio-Medico University Hospital, of Albanian origin, describes the sensations he experienced on Easter night, April 4, 2015, when he was baptized, confirmed and received his First Communion from the hands of the Pope Francis in the Vatican.
A particular path, his. In some cases, in fact, it is being a Christian that favors a 'vocational' choice of charity towards others. Especially for professions that involve 'taking care' of frailty or illness, such as the doctor.
Sometimes, however, the reverse can happen. It happened to Ervin. 32 years old, he comes from Fier, one of the largest urban centers in Albania, 100 kilometers southwest of Tirana. “My family – explains Ervin – like almost all the others in the city and in the country, due to the long communist dictatorship it is an atheist. For this reason, during my childhood, I never considered the problem of faith".
Yet, even as a teenager, while watching TV programs on Italian networks and learning our language, he felt in his heart the desire to become a doctor. “Thus - he tells - after high school I took the test to enter 'La Sapienza'. And I passed”. The dream of life could turn into reality. We are in 2001.
With the transfer to Rome, however, alongside the beauty of the imperial vestiges and the glimpses of Trastevere, Ervin also experienced difficulties in settling in. Even some episodes of xenophobia. “In the first months in Italy – confides – I had trouble finding accommodation because no one trusted an Albanian to rent an apartment. I was in great trouble. In the end, I turned to Don Salvatore, an Orionine priest, who managed to find me accommodation. I remember that, to facilitate my integration, he had Masses celebrated in Albanian. There I started wondering about God”. Ervin's university career proceeds quickly. Until 2012, when he won a specialization place in Urology atUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma. It is here, thanks to the stimuli and testimony of colleagues and chaplains, that Ervin returns to reflect on faith. And he begins to think about the possibility of a choice. “Slowly - He says - the desire to know the Christian faith was born and strengthened within me; all the more after Pope Francis' visit to Albania on 21 September 2014. Looking at those images, I understood that I too could become an example of faith and peace”. From that day to Easter night 2015 the step was short. Today Ervin is happy with the choice he made. Not only. “Even before I became a Christian – stresses – in my work I have always tried to help patients and their families. Now, however, I have another strength. I have a new 'reading key' to talk to them about sickness, suffering and death. Because I know life doesn't end in a hospital room".
