On April 5th an award ceremony took place in the Palace of Brigades in Tirana. The President of Albania, Prof./ Dr. Bamir Topi awarded the leaders of four traditional religious communities with the Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu award. The nominees were the Archbishop of Tirana, Durrësi and the whole Albania, His Beatitude Anastasios, and the leaders of the Muslim, Catholic and Bektashi communities in Albania. At first, Dr. Bamir Topi held a greeting speech for the nominated leaders and all those who were present in the ceremony. In his speech he claimed, ‘It is a great honor and privilege for me to present and emphasize a special, traditional and historical value of my people and my country: the coexistence between different religions including even those small religious groups which act according to the standards of freedom and universal values. This perpetual coexistence which has been gradually cultivated through times is established on the basis of faith. Faith unites people, independently of the ways people choose to pray to their common God. Such a religious coexistence is an attribute of the representatives of the religious communities who preach their faith with wisdom and devotion… I extend my best regards to our spiritual and far-sighted leaders, these hard working activists of social and inter-religious dialogue but also good contributors in the development of democracy in the country…’.
The following words were engraved in the diploma awarded to Archbishop Anastasi, ‘For the valuable ministration and contribution to the resurrection of spiritual faith and hope for a better future, to the restoration of cult objects and to the consolidation of inter-religious tolerance, harmony and coexistence in Albania’.
After receiving the award, His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios emphasized in his speech the following, ‘I heartily thank you for such an honor. This event is another important page in history. Long times ago religion was considered as dangerous. But now, in the days of freedom and democracy, there is a general awareness about religion, according to which, religion can also be a blessing. It was also believed that the existence of several religious groups might pose a risk for the people and the country. Nonetheless, we have tried to prove the opposite during the years. As traditional religious communities, not only are we in favor of inter-religious tolerance, but we also support the brotherly cooperation between us. During the hardest moments in eighteen years time, we have continuously stressed that the “oil” of religion must not aggravate the fire of conflict but treat the wounds and bring peace.In Albania we have put our efforts in setting up a model for the rest of the world; a model of understanding, peace and love. We are much grateful to you because your presence during all this time has been really significant for us and for the whole country. We heartily wish you success in your new endeavors’.
Thoma Dhima
Translated by Juliana Pici
