Written by Petrit Latifi
In 1913, Petrovic-Njegosh ordered the massacre of Catholic Albanians and priests in order to increase the pressure to convert to Slavic Orthodoxism. During these atrocities, Luigj Palaj was killed. An interesting quote can be read in Gezim Alpioni book “Mother Theresa The Saint and her Nation”:
“Following the 1896 concession, Petrović-Njegoš intensified efforts across Kosova’s southwestern plateau of Dukagjin to forcefully convert Albanian Roman Catholics to the Orthodox faith, massacring civilians and Albanian priests who stood in the way. One such massacre took place on 7 March 1913 in Janash near Gjakova. The outcry that this and other cruelties caused in the Catholic world forced Petrović-Njegoš to put an end to his conversion crusade.”
Albanian Catholic priest Luigj Palaj was also murdered by Montenegrin troops in 1913
The British newspaper Leeds Mercury reported on the murder of an Albanian priest at the entrance to Peja in 1913. Father Luigj Palaj goes to Gjakova and calls on the Albanians not to accept the Montenegrin occupation. The Montenegrins had begun to forcibly convert Muslim and Catholic Albanians to the Orthodox faith. Thus, on March 7, 1913, in Janash near Gjakova, Palaj was arrested along with fifty-five of his compatriots on the Gjakova-Peja road, and while attempting to escape, he was killed by the Montenegrins.
Reference
https://pamfleti.net/leeds-mercury-vrasja-e-at-luigj-palaj-nga-malazezet-ne-vitin-1913
Balkan Academia 