In response to the U.S. Bishops request to help the Church in Eastern Europe, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious appealed for volunteers. The Maryknoll Sisters Congregational Leadership Team asked for volunteers.

Four Sisters volunteered and three arrived in Albania on February 1, 1995, the other following in 1996. Through discernment with the Apostolic Administrator and the pastor of Korce, the Sisters opted to pioneer where there was no Catholic presence. May 1,1995 marked the official opening of the Catholic Church and the Maryknoll Sisters presence in Pogradec. Beginnings: learning the language, home visits, teaching, visiting patients in the hospital, group learning activities, community prayers. They formed a Christian community among children and young adults who grew up with no religion at all. During these years, nineteen teenagers received Baptism.

The Maryknoll Sisters were blessed to be a part of twenty-two religious missionaries of fourteen nationalities from six different institutes, witnessing the universal presence of the Church in Albania. In 1997 when many Albanians lost their life savings in fraudulent investment schemes and violence erupted, the two Maryknoll Sisters in Pogradec shared reflections on the brutal reality, and wrote, “We both reaffirmed our commitment to wait and stay here with Jesus in the Gethsemane of Albania.” In 1999, the Kosovar refugees poured into Pogradec and the small community visited the camps, inviting refugees to meals in their neighborhood. It was serving the needs of the Kosovars that attracted the young people to mission in the countryside.

With apostles in place, the last Sister left Pogradec on March 19, 2002. A second chapter of mission in Albania opened when Sister Lourdes Fernandez was assigned to return, arriving on October 6, 2006 in Elbasan. She lives with Italian Dominican Sisters and collaborates with a Montessori School, teaching values education in both English and Albanian. She celebrated with her Albanian friends as they heard the Kosova/o Prime Minister proclaim independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008, in the Albanian language.