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   alt.christian.religion   
   XPost: alt.christnet.religion, soc.culture.albanian   
   From: hayesstw@telkomsa.net   
      
   Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana dies at 95   
      
   Anastasios Yannoulatos, Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës, and All Albania,   
   died in Athens, Greece, on 25 January 2025 at age 95.   
      
   25 January 2025   
      
   Obituary   
      
   An influential catalyst in the Orthodox world and a giant in the   
   ecumenical sphere, Archbishop Anastasios died after a short illness.   
      
   An honorary member of the Academy of Athens and a former World Council   
   of Churches (WCC) president, with more than six decades in the   
   ecumenical movement, Anastasios was known as a herald of peace and   
   wisdom worldwide and a champion of interreligious dialogue.   
      
   “Today we remember and honour not just the intellectual and   
   institutional achievements and ecumenical dedication of Archbishop   
   Anastasios,” said WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay,   
   “but also his wonderful, warm spirit, which enabled him perennially to   
   open channels of reconciliation, renewal, and dialogue, even and   
   especially in difficult times and venues. He leaves our worldwide   
   fellowship an inspiring and enviable legacy as a true Christian   
   witness for peace, justice, and reconciliation.”   
      
   Anastasios’s career in ministry spanned more than 60 years, from early   
   ministry in Greece and Africa, to leading the Orthodox church in   
   Albania after it endured virulent anti-religious decades as part of   
   the Soviet bloc, to building churches and educational institutions in   
   post-1989 Albania, to reframing and renewing mission in an Orthodox   
   world that sometimes eschewed it, to championing peace and ecological   
   justice in this century.   
      
   WCC moderator Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm said: “With the death of   
   Archbishop Anastasios, so many of us have lost a personal friend. As a   
   fellow bishop, I have also admired his indefatigable work as a   
   bridge-builder and reconciler among the Orthodox churches in Europe   
   and beyond, especially in the decades after the Cold War and up to our   
   present day. This work has been invaluable in an era when conflicting   
   national, economic, and political interests and loyalties threaten our   
   unity. We are so grateful to you, Archbishop Anastasios!”   
      
   Mild manner, bold leader   
      
   Anastasios’s personal kindness, mild manner, and openness to learning   
   from a variety of traditions and points of view made him a natural   
   ecumenist and a progressive force in interreligious and missiological   
   circles.   
      
   He served as a member of the WCC Commission on World Mission and   
   Evangelism (CWME, 1963-1969) and on its missionary studies committee,   
   then as secretary for missionary research and the relations with the   
   Orthodox churches in the WCC General Secretariat (1969–71). He then   
   participated in the WCC programme on Dialogue with People of Living   
   Faiths and Ideologies (1975–1983) and as moderator of the CWME   
   (1984–1991), as a member of the WCC central committee (1998–2006), and   
   as a president of the WCC (2006-2013).   
      
   Archbishop Anastasios was an active participant in the planning and   
   convening of the autocephalous Orthodox churches in their Holy and   
   Great Council in June 2016, capping decades of his inter-Orthodox   
   work.   
      
   Under his leadership, the Orthodox church of Albania hosted many   
   interdenominational meetings at the Academy of Saint Vlasios.   
   Anastasios also initiated the establishment of the Interreligious   
   Council of Albania (KNFSH), aiming to promote dialogue and the   
   harmonious coexistence of religious communities.   
      
   Along with dozens of medals and awards, the archbishop was awarded 19   
   honorary doctorates.   
      
   A theologian facing the world   
      
   A prolific theologian and author of two dozen books in several   
   languages, Anastasios is perhaps best known for tackling   
   interreligious issues and dialogue, as in his 2003 volume Facing the   
   World: Orthodox Christian Essays on Global Concerns (WCC Publications,   
   2003).  His early experience in Africa led him to re-envision the   
   whole enterprise of mission in his 2007 volume Mission in Christ’s Way   
   (WCC Publications).   
      
   In his most recent book, Coexistence (published in six languages in   
   2022), he offered reflections on war, poverty, terrorism, corruption,   
   injustice, globalization, and an alternative vision.   
      
   “It is our duty to not surrender to a passive observation and   
   description of these consequences, but on the contrary, we should   
   strive for a globalization of peace, solidarity, and love,” he said.   
   “For many, this seems utopian, nevertheless, it remains the vision,   
   desire, and struggle of those who still believe in the vital need for   
   a universal harmonious coexistence which does not eliminate the   
   uniqueness of peoples but which creatively utilizes their talents.”   
      
   A life beyond borders   
      
   Anastasios Yannoulatos was born in 1929 in Piraeus, Greece. After   
   graduating from the National University of Athens in 1952, he carried   
   out post-graduate studies in the history of religions, ethnology,   
   missions, and Africanology at the Universities of Hamburg and Marburg.   
   He was ordained in 1964, earned his doctorate from the National   
   University of Athens in 1970 and was consecrated Bishop of Androussa,   
   Greece, in 1972.   
      
   He served as professor of the History of Religions at his alma mater   
   from 1971 to 1997.   
      
   Anastasios also served as acting archbishop of the Holy Archbishopric   
   of Irinoupolis (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania) from 1981 through 1991 before   
   being assigned to the newly independent Albania, where he was   
   consecrated Archbishop of Tirana and Primate of the Autocephalous   
   Orthodox Church of Albania in 1992.   
      
   As archbishop, he restored and further developed the Orthodox Church   
   of Albania, which had been fully dissolved for 23 years. He also led   
   innovative programs in the areas of health, social welfare, education,   
   agricultural developments, culture and ecology, making the church a   
   significant economic and cultural actor. At the same time, he   
   struggled to assist in relieving the many tensions in the Balkans.   
      
   Characteristically, in 2015 he hosted the Global Christian Forum   
   consultation in Tirana. There, 150 high-level leaders and   
   representatives of various church traditions from more than 60   
   countries gathered to listen and learn, and to stand in solidarity   
   with churches and Christians experiencing discrimination and   
   persecution in the world today .“It’s the fruit of our work together   
   in Albania,” said Archbishop Anastasios.   
      
   Source:   
      
      
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