in 1914 shantoja visited for the first time vienna, and, on 29 may 1915, he was ordained as a priest. he started to write poetry in albanian, italian, german and esperanto, and also began to translate into albanian. in 1917 shantoja started to serve as a parish priest in the villages of pulaj, beltojë, velipojë, rrjoll, as well as sheldî, where he also opened the village's first school in albanian language. in 1922 he became the secretary of the archbishop of shkodër, mons. lazër mjeda. in that vest, on april 17, 1923, he had the chance to meet in vienna, with the chancellor of austria, ignaz seipel.