In Memoriam Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana, Durrës, and All Albania

27 Jan 2025

The Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity (DPCU) has learned with sorrow of the passing of His Beatitude Anastasios, Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës, and All Albania, on 25 January this year, at the age of 95.

The funeral of Archbishop Anastasios was presided over by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, in Tirana on Wednesday, 29 January. The Secretary of the Dicastery, H.E. Mgr Flavio Pace, participated in the liturgy, during which he publicly read and then personally handed over the Holy Father's message to His Eminence John, Metropolitan of Korça and Locum Tenens of the Orthodox Church of Albania.

His Beatitude, who "served and proclaimed the Lord in various geographical and cultural contexts, particularly in Greece, Africa, and Albania," took on the supreme responsibility of leading the Orthodox Church of Albania with a deep desire to reach the hearts of all entrusted to his pastoral care, "without ever losing communion with the other Orthodox Churches," as Pope Francis recalled.

As Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the DPCU, expressed in his laudatio delivered on 14 February 2020 at Augsburg Cathedral during the ceremony in which His Beatitude was awarded the Klaus Hemmerle Prize for his exceptional commitment to mutual tolerance and reconciliation between the Churches, the Archbishop was "a pioneer of the missionary spirit within the Orthodox Church." He further stated: "Archbishop Anastasios not only taught and preached this conviction, but above all, he lived it."

His Beatitude also served as President of the World Council of Churches and was an honorary member of the Academy of Athens.

Requiescat in pace.