On the occasion of Christmas, on Saturday, December 26, 2015, the President of the Republic, Mr. Bujar Nishani, hosted a formal dinner at the Palace of Brigades, which was attended by representatives of Christian communities and of other religious communities in the country, leaders of independent institutions, MPs etc. The dinner was also attended by a large delegation from the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania, which was headed by Archbishop Anastasios and composed by all the members of the Holy Synod, the clergy and laity of the Archdiocese headquarters and of the three Metropolitans.
In his address, the President, Mr. Bujar Nishani, among other things stated: “I am honored to be your host tonight. I am also happy to have the opportunity to repeat that religion is an instrument of peace and love; that it should not be instrumentalized and used to serve totalitarian and fundamentalist ideas or goals. In Albania, we can strongly affirm this and convey our message across, and we must also help to discourage, isolate and defeat any attempt which infringes our heritage and our present or which casts doubt on the future.
The Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical communities with their leaders have successfully contributed towards such goals and, as the Head of the Albanian State, I take this opportunity tonight to express my deep personal and institutional admiration, as well as the totally deserved appreciation on behalf of all Albanians. Thank you all! Once again, I would like to wish you, as we Albanians are used to wish: Merry Christmas into the ages of ages!”
His Beatitude Anastasios extended his greeting on behalf of our Church. He thanked the President for the invitation, which is the first of its kind on such a great feast, and emphasized the role of the religious communities towards the development of the country in the last 24 years.
Also, the President of the Episcopal Conference, Mons. Angelo Masafra and the President of the Evangelical Community, Pastor Ali Kurti gave their greetings.
