Thirty Years of Rebuilding Efforts: The Restoration of a Local Dissolved Church.

The Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania

Press Statement

At the end of the panegyric and synodical Divine Liturgy which was celebrated on Tuesday, August 2, 2022, in the Resurrection of Christ Cathedral Church, on the occasion of the 30^th anniversary of the election of His Beatitude Anastasios, the Archbishop of Tirana, Durres and all Albania at the head of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania, His Grace Joan, the Metropolitan of Korca, referred to the amazing dimensions and the importance of the work of Archbishop Anastasios emphasizing the following, ‘You gave your greatest contribution to the spiritual domain, on which the rest of your efforts were based: the message of the Gospel that you delivered on hope, forgiveness and respect for every person.’

As it is known, from 1944 to 1967, the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania faced atheistic persecution in its classical form, as in other countries. From 1967 to 1990, Albania experienced total persecution that constitutionally banned all forms of religious expression and dissolved the local Church. In July 1991, Bishop Anastasios who became Metropolitan of Androusa later on, and was also a professor at the University of Athens, arrived in Albania as Patriarchal Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. On June 24, 1992, at the request of the Orthodox faithful of Albania, he was elected by the Ecumenical Patriarchate as Archbishop of Tirana, Durres and all Albania and his election ceremony took place on August 2, 1992. In the three decades that followed, the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania was totally rebuilt and developed in all its areas.

Giving thanks to God and glorifying Him for his thirty years – long ministry in Albania which he accomplished together with his beloved colleagues, amid difficulties, sorrows, unsolvable situations, various pains but also countless blessings from God, he recalled that: ‘The Clergy and the faithful of the Orthodox Church of Albania gratefully remember the initiative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate as well as the clear decision of the respective commission made for the rebuilt of our local Church and they pray with sincere respect and love for His All Holiness Bartholomew, the Ecumenical Patriarch.’

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After the doxological atmosphere of the Divine Liturgy, where the members of the Holy Synod, the clergy from all the Holy Metropolises, the two choirs of the Cathedral Church as well as numerous faithful participated, in spite of a working day, the General Clergy –Laity Assembly followed taking place in the modern Cultural Center which is part of the Cathedral Church Complex.

As provided by the Statute of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania, the participants of the Assembly must be: “Members of the Holy Synod, members of the Clergy-Laity Council, two representatives from each holy monastery, twenty clergy and twenty-four laity with appropriate representation of men, women and youth from the Archiepiscopate and the Metropolises.”

During the Assembly, the clergy and laity of each church domain presented a summary of the multi-dimensional work of the church accomplished so far.

Towards the end of the Clergy-Laity Assembly, His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios highlighted Apostle Paul´s prayer which should serve as a compass to guide the way of the church, ‘so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.’ (Colossians1:10)

The Press Office of the Archiepiscopate

August 2, 2022. Tirana, Albania