During Bright Week after Easter, our country was visited by a representative group of the Byzantine Church of the Albanians of Italy, Eparchy of Ungros, which today is part of the Catholic Church. The group consisted of its Bishop, Monsignor Donato Oliverio, the Protosingel and Protopresbyter Pietro Lanza, the Protopresbyter Antonio Belushi and Father Sergio Straface. They met with the religious communities, politicians and visited some of the symbolic sites as a memorial of their departure in the 15th century, such as the tomb of Gjergj Kastrioti and the Castle of Kruja. One of the spiritual treasures that they took with them, and that has been essential to the preservation of their identity, was also the Orthodox faith of their ancestors. Despite the forced changes that the centuries and the foreign land brought, they have tried to preserve the Byzantine Rites and traditions. Therefore, the visit to the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania was filled with joy and emotions.
They were warmly welcomed by Archbishop Anastasios, in his office at the seat of the Holy Synod. His Beatitude was accompanied by the members of the Holy Synod, the Bishop of Kruja, Anthony, the Bishop of Amantia, Nathanael, the Bishop of Bylis, Asti, etc. Among other things, Archbishop Anastasios, said:
It is a joy to have you here with us today…. Our tradition was the tradition that was passed on to you by Gjergj Kastrioti. Other phenomena and events happened later … In the 21st century conditions are different and God has His plans for each of us.
Our achievements are somehow yours, because the developments and the events within a church belong to the whole Church in general… You know the situation here. 22 years before there was almost nothing left from the previous Church. Even those few remaining churches were turned into warehouses, cinemas, museums and for other purposes…
Then, Archbishop Anastasios offered the guests a review of the way and efforts for the rebuilding of our Church, from 1991 until today.
Then Monsignor Donato Oliverio spoke, who said among other things:
… This is the first time that we have come to Albania and in our souls we feel a lot of emotions, because this is the land where the fathers of our fathers were born and are buried.
But, their great faith in the Most Holy Trinity has given us power and kept us alive throughout the centuries in emigration in Calabria. We came up here to meet you personally and honor You, as the Primate of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania, with which we have a spiritual connection, ritual and history since the fifteenth century, although the political and religious events have left us and have made us like unknown and dead sons of the history, and until today we are separated from the Divine Liturgy.
The Holy Orthodox Autocephalous Church, for those of us who are with the Byzantine Rite in Italy, was and stands as a daily reference point and a great light that illuminates our path as Orthodox believers and Arbëreshë emigrants.
… We have no material, territorial, or religious interest here in Albania, where the Orthodox Church manifests with honor the sanctification of the people. We here in Albania have no Arbëresh priest and we do not own any land here, because of the great respect we have for your Orthodox Church and for our Arbëresh Church. We Abëreshët, as history demonstrates, have lived in Calabria since the 15th century and we have our history and our sufferings in order to keep alive our identity as Arbëreshë, with the Greek Byzantine Rite and with Eastern spirituality while living among Latin Italians … In conclusion, there was a warm conversation and gifts were exchanged and various publications of both Churches.
