News from Orthodoxy in AlbaniaOccasional Publication of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of AlbaniaNumber 2
News from
Orthodoxy in Albania
Occasional Publication of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania
Number 2, February 3, 1997
Articles in this Issue:
· Resurrection of Christ” School begins New Semester
· Investment schemes Leave Albania in Turmoil
· Highlights of January – 50,000 Gather in Berat for Epiphany Celebration
· Student Groups Share Gospel and Reach Out to Needy
Resurrection of Christ” School Begins New Semester
The “Resurrection of Christ” School of Theology begins its second semester of classes following the exam week of January 21. The President of the School, His Beatitude Anastasios, Archbishop of Tirana and All Albania was there to offer words of encouragement to the students. The Archbishop was also reviewing the progress on the ongoing construction of the new 2800 sq. meter seminary complex. This is the first year that the school has moved into its two million dollar compound at the holy sight of St. Vlash, Durres.
The 49 students currently attending the seminary were grateful for the visit of their spiritual father, and for all that has been done over the past six years. Since the arrival of Archbishop Anastasios to Albania in 1991, a top priority of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania has been the establishment of a school to prepare priests and lay leaders to serve the Orthodox communities around the country. The 46 year atheistic regime had totally destroyed all the infrastructure of the Church in Albania. More than 1600 Orthodox churches and monasteries had been closed and destroyed. The clergy dwindled from more than 440 in the 1940’s, to only 22 surviving priests and deacons in 1990. Today, only eight of them still live. Archbishop Anastasios understood the desperate shortage of clergy, and had the vision to focus firstly on the training and preparation of indigenous men to share the Orthodox faith and offer the Holy Mysteries among the people of Albania.
Thus, in March 1992, classes began for the “Resurrection of Christ” School of Theology. With some old theologians from Albania, together with teachers from Greece and America, the school started classes in an old, rented “workers camp.” With little electricity, heat, or running water, 45 students began studying and learning about their Orthodox faith. Some of the more promising students were ordained in the midst of their studies, filling an immediate need of the hundreds of thousands of Orthodox believers throughout the country. The first year class finished their studies in the summer of 1994. Each succeeding year a new class entered into the school.
Since it inception, three classes have finished their studies, with approximately 80 students being ordained as priests or deacons, 10 students doing further studies in Greece, and six students preparing for the monastic life at the Nativity of the Theotokos Monastery in Ardenica. Presently, 49 students live at the seminary and attend classes. All students have finished high school, and seven of them have finished university. Approximately half of the students are married.
The school offers a three year course in the basics of the Orthodox tradition, teaching the Holy Scriptures, Church History, Patristics and Lives of Saints, Liturgics, Dogmatics, Ethics, Byzantine Music and a foreign language, along with more practical courses of Teleturgics, pastoral care and preaching for the third year students. The daily life of the students includes morning and evening prayer services, combined with five hours of instruction. Third year students weekly make pastoral visits to the local old age home, hospital, and school for handicapped children. Some students participate in offering catechism to the local children and youth of the area. Other students pass their free time learning iconography or additional byzantine music
Investment Schemes Leave Albania in Turmoil
In recent weeks, Albania has plummeted into turmoil by a number of “pyramid” investment schemes that have collapsed. Some experts estimate that as many as 80% of Albanian families had invested money in these get-rich-quick investment companies, which were promising up to 100% interest within three and four month periods.
Five of the companies have collapsed over the past three weeks, however, and partial compensation has been announced for only two firms, whose assets were frozen in state banks. Thus, thousands of Albanian families have fallen into a desperate economic situation.
The Albanian newspaper “Dita Informacion” recently held an interview with Archbishop Anastasios concerning this problem. Part of the interview is below.
Interviewer – The phenomenon of usury has become a major problem in Albania today. Since this is an issue which now concerns almost all Albanians, what can you say about it?
Archbishop Anastasios – There are economic laws of the free market system, especially concerning the circulation of money. When these laws get broken, then many victims suffer. Unfortunately, the victims are often the weakest and least informed … Now is a time when we must show great sympathy and compassion to such people…
Has the Orthodox Church taken part in any of this money with interest?
Archbishop Anastasios – Even though the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania has quite large social and technical services, we have avoided all temptations to place money in any such pyramid schemes.
What does the Bible and the Orthodox Church teach in relation to such issues?
Archbishop Anastasios – The Church has always been against any lending of money with an exaggerated interest. Instead it has taught about the productive use of talents and gifts through creative and active work … The Orthodox Church has always emphasized a zeal for work, a struggle for truth and integrity and a condemnation of every form of exploitation and disinformation.
Highlights of January
50,000 People in Berat for Epiphany Celebration
In the month of January, Orthodox believers throughout the country witnessed and participated in a variety of special events for the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania. During this brief time, Archbishop Anastasios blessed the foundations of two new churches, ordained to the diaconate two students who graduated from the seminary last year, and traveled from Vraka, one of the northern-most towns in Albania, to Saranda. Following are some of the highlights of the past month.
January 1, 1997 — Archbishop Anastasios celebrated the feast of St. Basil and the new year in the Church of St. Paraskevi in the southern city of Permet . At the end of the service, His Beatitude informed the believers that by the grace of God the Church of St. Paraskevi would be rebuilt by the end of 1997
January 5 – Archbishop Anastasios was in the port city of Durres for the Eve of Epiphany. This day also marked the 115th anniversary of the birth of Theophan Noli, the renowned personality of Albania. After the liturgy, the Archbishop received political representatives and various personalities from the city, as well as members of the Fan Noli Assosiation. All thanked the Archbishop for his great endeavors toward the revival of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church in Albania, and for the spiritual enrichment of the Albanian people as a whole.
January 6 – Albanian television estimated 50,000 people of all religious backgrounds gathered on both sides of the Osum River in Berat to witness the blessing of the waters by Archbishop Anastasios for the feast of Epiphany.
January 12 – A one year memorial service was held in Tirana for Dimiter Beduli, the last surviving theologian from the pre-communist era. Beduli greatly helped in the re-establishment of the Church during the past five years of democracy.
January 17 – Archbishop Anastasios attended the dedication ceremony of a new 10 meter cross that stands as a testimony to the glory of God and the Christian presence in the area of Patos (near Fier).
January 19 – Archbishop Anastasios blessed the foundation stone for the new Cathedral of St. George in the city of Fier , and ordained to the diaconate Llazar Çullaj, a graduate of the “Resurrection of Christ” seminary. The cathedral will be built in a basilica style, 44m x 23m, with a dome of 24m and a bell tower of 30m.
January 22 – On the feastday of St. Anastasios the Persian, Archbishop Anastasios celebrated the Divine Liturgy in Tirana and ordained Socrat Lako, another graduate of the seminary, to the diaconate.
January 26 – Archbishop Anastasios performed the Divine Liturgy in the city of Shkodra . Afterwards, he traveled to Vraka , a town on the Montenegran border with a significant Slav population. Here he blessed the foundation stone for another new church.
January 30 – A Vigil organized by the youth of Tirana was held in the Cathedral of the Annunciation in honor of the Three Hierarchs and Education Day for Orthodox students. Archbishop Anastasios offered a blessing and words of encouragement to the 120 students present.
January 31 – The Archbishop made a pastoral visit to the city of Saranda , and surveyed the construction progress of the new cathedral.
Student Groups Share Gospel and Reach Out to Needy
Students from the “Resurrection of Christ” Seminary, from the “Sons of Light” Orthodox youth group in Tirana, along with some of the young men at the monastery of the Nativity of the Theotokos in Ardenica, have been participating in a weekly ministry of evangelism and outreach to different areas of Albania.
Every week, at least nine small groups of youth share the Gospel by offering catechism lessons to children, secondary school youth, and university age students in the cities of Tirana, Durres, Kavaja, Elbasan, and Lushnje, along with seven other villages in the surrounding areas. These students receive lessons and instruction from the Archdiocese Office of Catechism, or from the “Resurrection of Christ” seminary, and then share these lessons in the different areas.
In addition to the groups of catechism, other groups of youth have been created to bring the love of Christ in concrete ways to the less fortunate and needy people of society. Remembering the words of our Lord, when he said, “I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me to drink, I was in prison and sick and you visited me,” these students have made a weekly commitment to visit various institutions in Tirana, Durres and Kavaja. Every week, five groups of students from the seminary visit an old age home, school for the handicapped children, and hospital. During these visits, they simply try to bring a loving presence and listening ear to people who have been abandoned by society.
The youth group of Tirana has also incorporated this witness of love in their weekly life by visiting a School for the Blind, and a School for Handicapped children every Sunday afternoon.
Many of the students had never visited such institutions before. At first, many where afraid or embarrassed. They thought that they would not be accepted by the people unless they brought some presents. They learned quickly, though, that the people they visited longed mostly for a friend, a person from the outside world who would talk with them, listen to them, and take an interest in them.
Many of the students have agreed that the experiences have agreed that the experiences have blessed them in ways they could never have imagined before.
Historical archive bulletin. Source: http://www.orthodoxalbania.org:80/nb2.htm — Wayback 20001001011440.