Archbishop of Albania to Ecumenical Patriarch: We have witnessed Your efforts for the unity of the Church | Orthodox Times (en)

Archbishop Ioannis of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania paid tribute to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and his 65 years of ecclesiastical ministry during the Patriarchal Divine Liturgy celebrated on Imbros on Thursday, August 13, 2026.

In his address, Archbishop Ioannis expressed his “deep joy and sincere emotion” at being present in the Ecumenical Patriarch’s birthplace and concelebrating in the same church where Bartholomew was ordained a deacon exactly 65 years earlier, on August 13, 1961, by the late Metropolitan Meliton of Imbros and Tenedos.

The Archbishop noted that the gathering, just days before the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, allowed those present to share not only in the Patriarch’s joy but also in his profound longing to return to his native island.

From Imbros to the Ecumenical Throne

Drawing on Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad, Archbishop Ioannis reflected on the meaning of homecoming and the historic connection between Imbros and Tenedos.

“Longing for return, according to Homer, is not simply a memory, nor a passing nostalgia. It is a force that sets one’s entire being in motion,” he said.

Turning to the church where Patriarch Bartholomew received the first degree of the priesthood, Archbishop John said that two forms of longing had converged there 65 years ago: love for one’s birthplace and the response to the call of the heavenly Father.

“Here you received the first degree of the priesthood. Not to be served, but to serve; not to seek human glory, but to shepherd the spiritual flock of the Church of Christ,” he said.

Archbishop Ioannis observed that no one present at the ordination in 1961 could have known where the young deacon’s path would lead. That journey would ultimately bring him to the Ecumenical Throne.

“Today, after sixty-five years, we do not simply praise a man; we praise and thank God, because time has revealed the wisdom of His Providence and confirmed the calling,” he stressed.

“We have witnessed your efforts for the unity of the Church”

The Archbishop highlighted Patriarch Bartholomew’s contribution to major ecclesiastical issues, making particular reference to the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church held in Crete in 2016 after decades of preparation.

“We have been witnesses to your efforts for the unity of the Church, to your labors and struggles. And what we have seen with our own eyes and heard with our own ears, we testify to today with gratitude,” Archbishop Ioannis said.

He recalled that the Orthodox Church of Albania participated in the Council with what he described as a full awareness of its historical and theological responsibility.

Archbishop Ioannis also referred to the restoration of Orthodox worship in historic places where it had been absent for decades, including Cappadocia and Panagia Soumela, as well as the reopening of Greek schools on Imbros.

He praised the Ecumenical Patriarchate for making the voice of Orthodoxy heard internationally through its advocacy of peace, reconciliation and the protection of God’s creation.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate and the rebirth of the Church of Albania

A substantial part of Archbishop Ioannis’s address was devoted to the role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the restoration of the Orthodox Church of Albania following decades of state atheism and persecution.

He recalled that churches and monasteries had been closed, looted, repurposed or destroyed, while worship had been prohibited by law and clergy had faced imprisonment, exile, persecution and martyrdom.

“The Church of Albania had been persecuted, devastated and appeared dead; but it had not died,” Archbishop Ioannis said.

At that critical moment, he continued, the Mother Church of Constantinople sent the late Archbishop Anastasios to Albania as Patriarchal Exarch. Anastasios would subsequently become the central figure in the reconstruction of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania.

Late Archbishop Anastasios as a bond between the three Primates

Archbishop Ioannis described his late predecessor as another bond linking the three Primates gathered on Imbros: Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria and Archbishop Ioannis himself.

Although Archbishop Anastasios is “no longer physically among us,” he said, his work has left an indelible mark on their Churches.

“We are convinced that his soul rejoices at seeing the Primates of the Churches meet in a spirit of brotherhood and unity,” he said.

Archbishop Ioannis recalled that Anastasios had repeatedly identified the gatherings of the Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches as one of the most important achievements of Patriarch Bartholomew’s tenure.

He also highlighted Anastasios’ connection with the Patriarchate of Alexandria, where he carried out his mature missionary ministry, and with Constantinople, the Mother Church that later sent him to Albania as Patriarchal Exarch.

“We wish to stand in the place of Aaron and Hur”

Concluding his address, Archbishop Ioannis conveyed the love, gratitude, prayers and best wishes of the clergy and faithful of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania.

“The Church of Albania has tasted and continues to taste the fruits of your labors, your love and your prayers,” he told the Ecumenical Patriarch.

Using the biblical image of Aaron and Hur supporting the arms of Moses, Archbishop Ioannis pledged that the Church of Albania would seek to support efforts toward peace, reconciliation and ecclesiastical unity.

“We assure you that the place we wish to occupy is that of Aaron and Hur, who, when the hands of Moses grew heavy, held them up, one on one side and the other on the other; that is, the place of those who support, of those who work for the peace, reconciliation and unity of the Church.”

“Many years, Your All-Holiness!” Archbishop Ioannis concluded.