Death in Greece of Mgr Anastasios, archbishop of the Orthodox Church in Albania

The Archbishop of the Orthodox Church in Albania, Mgr Anastasios, an important figure in the Orthodox clergy in Tirana for more than thirty years, died on Saturday at the age of 95, announced the Athens hospital where he had been admitted.

Of Greek nationality, Mgr Anastasios had been hospitalized since early January in Athens, where he had been transferred from Tirana due to complications after having contracted a virus.

He died “De a failure of several organs”according to a press release from Evangelismos Hospital in Athens.

The Tirana Orthodox Church expressed “His great pain” After the death of his archbishop.

“Albania has lost the Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës and all of Albania, Professor Anastasios, spiritual leader and an eminent figure of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania”said in his message of condolences the Albanian president Bajram Begaj.

He praised “Wisdom, dedication and love for people” of mgr anastasios, qui “Had contributed to the strengthening and the creation of a new path for the Albanian Orthodox faith”.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis qualified the dignitary contribution to the orthodoxy of« inestimable ».

“His footprint remains indelible”: Mgr anastasios “Will always issue messages of peaceful life and coexistence”he added.

The Greek Parliament observed a minute of silence in tribute to this dignitary “Iconic”Selon Son Président Nikitas Kaklamanis.

His body will be exhibited at Athens Cathedral on Sunday and a religious ceremony will take place before its transport on Monday in Tirana, where its funeral will take place, the Orthodox Church of Greece said on Saturday afternoon, in coordination with the Church in Albania.

According to some Greek media, the funeral should be celebrated on Thursday.

Reformer

Born in 1929 in Piraeus, the large port of Athens, Anastasios Yannoulatos (his civil name), was known for his charisma and his affable manners.

Doctor of theology having taught at the University of Athens and Marbourg (Germany), Anastasios has traveled in Africa and Asia, leaving a rich philanthropic work.

In three decades, the dignitary managed to resuscitate the Orthodox Church in Albania undermined by the self-declared diet “Atheist” of the communist dictator Enver Hodja.

He had managed to dispel the initial doubts of the Albanians against him, to finally inspire them real admiration and sympathy.

Christians, Catholics and Orthodox represent 25% of the population in Albania, a Muslim majority country.

In many of the interviews he had granted, Anastasios liked to show the imprint that a sniper’s ball had left in the window of his office in 1997, a year of political and social tensions in Albania.

“I keep this window to remember that life is only holding a thread. We must not spoil it in a single day ”he declared in an interview in 2015 at the Oikoumene.org site of the Ecumenical Council of the Churches.

In addition to the construction of churches, including the immense Orthodox cathedral in Tirana, and the reorganization of the Orthodox community, it focused on operations to promote peace, rescue, in connection with health, or even protection environment.

Tolerance

In 2017, former Albanian president Ilir Meta had granted him the Albanian nationality.

“Since the day I became a archbishop and when I arrived in Albania, I felt like an Albanian citizen who works and has great responsibility in this country”was then delighted Anastasios.

In 1991, he came to the aid of the Orthodox community in Albania, which had suffered a lot under the communist regime which had approached in 1967 “The first atheist state of the world”.

Under the Dictatorship of Enver Hodja (1945-1985), seven archbishops, 111 priests and eight nuns of different confessions were imprisoned or executed.

Working for the recognition of the Orthodox Church since 1992, Anastasios had preached for religious tolerance in this border country of Greece.

During crisis situations, he had supported the Orthodox community but also to the rest of the Albanian population, notably opening the churches to homeless people after the Durrës earthquake in 2019.

True to his country of origin, Anastasios also wanted to be the spokesperson for the Greek minority of Albania (23,485 people out of a total population of 2.4 million), present mainly in the south of the country.