The Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania Participates in the Pan-Orthodox Celebrations of the 1700-th Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Edict of Milan Organized by the Serbian Patriarchate. (5 - 7 October 2013)

The Patriarchate of Serbia culminated its celebrations of the 1700-th Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Edict of Milan (313 A.D.) with a series of Pan-Orthodox celebrations in Belgrade, Nish and Podgorica, from October 5 to 7, 2013.

In attendance were: the Ecumenical Patriarch, His Holiness Bartholomew; the Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Theophilos; Patriarch of Moscow and All Russian, His Holiness Kirill; Archbishop of Cyprus, His Beatitude Chrysostomos II; Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, His Beatitude Ieronymos II; Metropolitan of Warsaw and All Poland, His Beatitude Sava; Archbishop of Tirana, His Beatitude Anastasios; together with a large number of hierarchical representatives of the Patriarchate and Autocephalous Churches from all over the Orthodox world, senior representatives from the Vatican and other Christian Churches, as well as from the World Council of Churches and the European Council of Churches; the Mufti of Serbia, and the diplomatic officials of Serbia and Montenegro etc.

The delegation of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania consisted of the Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania, His Beatitude, Anastasios, His Grace Bishop of Byllis, Asti and Father Anastasios Bendo.

The celebrations began in Belgrade on Saturday, October 5-th with a panagyric doxology in the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael and the participation of many believers from within the country and abroad. Then the program continued with an audience in the Patriarchate with the Patriarch of Serbia His Holiness Irinej, followed by an audience and lunch with the President of the Republic of Serbia, Mr. Tomislav Nikolić.

The next day, Sunday, October 6-th, all the Hierarchs participated in the Divine Liturgy which was conducted with solemnity at the new Church of St. Constantine and Helen in Nish (the birthplace of Emperor Constantine), in the presence of thousands of clergy and lay believers. All the state authorities of the Republic of Serbia were present. At the conclusion of the Liturgy, the Patriarch of Serbia awarded the medal of “Emperor Constantine”, the highest medal of the Serbian Church, accorded by the Holy Synod of the Serbian Church for this occasion) to all primates and representatives of the Orthodox Churches.

On Monday, October 7-th, in Podgorica, Montenegro, at the just-completed new Church of the Resurrection of Christ, the Service of Consecration of the church and then the Divine Liturgy were conducted with the participation of thousands of believers. All the state authorities of the country were also present. Then the program continued with an audience with the President and Prime Minister of the Republic of Montenegro. It is to be noted that this was the first time that the high-priestly liturgical prayers were heard in Albanian in these three cathedral churches.

BEOGRAD

NISH