| Type: | Cardinal |
| Honorific-Prefix: | His Eminence |
| Ernest Simoni | |
| Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria della Scala | |
| Church: | Catholic Church (Latin Church) |
| Appointed: | 19 November 2016 |
| Enthroned: | 11 February 2017 |
| Predecessor: | Stanisław Nagy |
| Ordination: | 7 April 1956 |
| Cardinal: | 19 November 2016 |
| Created Cardinal By: | Pope Francis |
| Rank: | Cardinal-Deacon |
| Birth Name: | Ernest Simoni |
| Birth Date: | 1928 10, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Troshani, Albanian Kingdom |
| Nationality: | Albanian |
| Motto: | sq|Zemra jeme dotë triumfojë (My Immaculate Heart will Triumph) |
| Coat Of Arms: | Coat of arms of Ernest Simoni.svg |
| Ernest Simoni | |
| Dipstyle: | His Eminence |
| Offstyle: | Your Eminence |
| Relstyle: | Cardinal |
Ernest Simoni Troshani (born 18 October 1928) is an Albanian cardinal of the Catholic Church.
He was created a cardinal in a consistory held on 19 November 2016 by Pope Francis.[1]
Ernest Simoni was born in 1928 in Troshani in the Albanian Kingdom.[2]
On 24 December 1963, he was imprisoned by the Communist authorities after offering a Mass for the repose of assassinated President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Ernest Simoni was tortured and even offered marriage to leave his faith.[3] He was sentenced to death, but the sentence was converted into a prison term and he spent 28 years at penal labour, first in a mine and then in a sewage canal.[4]
On 21 September 2014, he met Pope Francis during his apostolic visit to Albania and provided the pope with his own testimony on his experiences under the Communist regime.[5]
On 9 October 2016,[6] Pope Francis announced that he would create Simoni a cardinal in the consistory held on 19 November of the same year.[7] Canon 351 of the Code of Canon Law requires that all cardinals must be bishops, but Simoni was given a papal dispensation from the requirement of episcopal consecration.[8]
At the consistory, he was assigned the titular church of Santa Maria della Scala. As of 2019, he had not yet received episcopal consecration.[9]
In 2017, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented at an awards ceremony in London.[10] [11]