Hierarchs of Local Churches hold memorial service for Archbishop Anastasios

Hierarchs of the Local Churches at the memorial service in Tirana. Photo: UOJ

On 1 March 2025, hierarchs from several Local Churches held a memorial service for the late Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana, Durrës, and All Albania at the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Tirana.

The Albanian UOJ website reported that the Divine Liturgy and memorial service were led by Metropolitan of Korça and Supervisor of the Archbishopric, His Grace Joan, concelebrated by Metropolitan Isaac of Germany and Central Europe of the Antiochian Patriarchate, Metropolitans Nektarios of Corfu and Dimitrios of Kefallinia of the Church of Greece, as well as members of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Albania.

Representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate – Metropolitans Joseph of Prikonisos and Meliton of Philadelphia – also participated in the service.

Following the service, Metropolitan Joseph of Prikonisos conducted a litia at the tomb of the late Archbishop, located in the crypt beneath the cathedral’s holy altar. The commemoration service was followed by a meal organised for all those in attendance.

The cathedral was filled with the clergy and laity of the Albanian Church, as well as representatives of religious, educational, and charitable institutions of the Archdiocese, along with numerous visitors who gathered to honour the memory of the late Primate of the Albanian Church.

During the memorial service, Metropolitan Joseph of Prikonisos, representing the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and Metropolitan Joan of Korça, the acting head of the Albanian Church, delivered sermons.

The hierarchs emphasized Archbishop Anastasios’ great missionary, spiritual, and social contributions, through which the Orthodox Church of Albania was restored after the devastation caused by atheistic persecution.

The will of the late Archbishop Anastasios was then publicly read aloud.

As earlier reported by the UOJ, Archbishop Anastasios, Primate of the Albanian Church, reposed in the Lord.

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