Archbishop Joani said that in 1992 he contacted Archbishop Anastasios and returned to Albania, after his stay in the USA.

He praised Archbishop Anastasios as another shining figure in the history of the church.

“He managed to rebuild the church from scratch because he had great patience and love for the Church and the people. You cannot stay for three decades or more in a country, often facing opposition, if you do not have a great love for the Church and the people. In the course of 32 years I worked with him, I have seen that he loved the country and the people. Often in Greece, there were complaints that he was more Albanian than necessary”, Bishop Joani said.

Prime Minister Rama recalled the conversation with Archbishop Joani years ago in Korça when he asked him about Archbishop Anastasios, at a time when there were general reservations about him outside the walls of the church in the country.

“But, you said: He is an Albanian like all the other Albanians that we have in the Orthodox Church, and if they were all as Albanian as he was, it would be much better,” Rama said.

The prime minister also recalled Archbishop Anastasios’s last interview with the Greek media, which he described as the best solution on everything that was suspected and said about him.

“My successor can only be Albanian and we went there to rebuild the Autocephalous Church of Albania; we did not go there to establish a colony. That interview was extraordinary”, said Rama.

The prime minister also recalled the conversation after the funeral of Archbishop Anastasios with the Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

“I owed a speech to this man, a servant of the Albanian church, who made us feel small. While Mitsotakis said: He knows better than all of us and he had absolute authority”, Rama recounted the conversation with his Greek counterpart.

Archbishop Joani emphasized that a patriot is a person who flourishes his country in the office he has and Archbishop Anastasios tried to build a solid local church.

“Not only in words, but in deeds. Autocephaly is financial independence and he did his best so that when he was not living, the Church would not go bankrupt, that it would be able to support itself. The construction of the two hydroelectric power plants gave the Church breathing space. If we were financially dependent, you cannot be completely free. This effort to make the church independent even when it was not shows his desire to build a solid local church and not only rebuild it, but also ensure the church to continue,” he said. /a.f/p.s./

In his message, Anastasios drew attention “to multifaceted grief around us and in our hearts: unspeakable pain from the railway calamity and the multitude of victims from the earthquake in our region, indescribable distress from the merciless war in Ukraine.”

“Grief and joy coexist in human life. This truth is emphasized vividly in the events experienced during Holy Week. Before the Passion, Christ during the Mystical Supper clarified to His disciples: “Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you” (John 16:22), he said.

The Archbishop underlines that the resurrection of Christ certifies the victory of truth over falsehood, love over hate, and the triumph of life over death.

“Sadness and joy alternate in our lives. Unexpected excruciating situations are not absent from our journey, disasters that exceed our strength and defeat us. We feel uneasy to face them and frequently we are overwhelmed by fear. Nonetheless, let not our will remain inert. As much as it depends upon us, let us allow the light of the Resurrection to illuminate our life and let the Holy Spirit grant us endurance, patience, and hope,” Anastasios said.

/r.e/u.sh/