Tirana, March 24, 2025
Photo: ekirikas.com
The new primate of the Albanian Orthodox Church maintains the same position that was formulated under his predecessor regarding the Patriarchate of Constantinople granting a tomos of autocephaly to the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine.”
His Eminence John of Korçë was elected Archbishop of the Albanian Church on March 16, following the repose of His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios in late January.
Under Abp. Anastasios, on January 4, 2019, the Albanian Holy Synod expressed its view that the ordinations of the hierarchs and clergy of the OCU are graceless and can’t be simply retroactively made real by decision of Constantinople. The Synod’s stance was expressed to Pat. Bartholomew personally in a letter, which was soon followed by another from Abp. Anastasios, debunking Constantinople’s self-justifying arguments and calling for a pan-Orthodox council to handle the matter.
Meanwhile, the schismatic OCU continues to hope for support from the Albanian Church. Back in January 2021, its primate, “Metropolitan” Epiphany Dumenko, declared that several Churches, including the Albanian Church, would soon recognize his OCU, but this was debunked by a representative of the Archbishop’s office, and to this day, the Albanian Church continues to reject the graceless schismatics.
Following the election of the new Archbishop John, Dumenko published a statement of congratulations, concluding: “We pray for you, for the Albanian Orthodox Church and ask your prayers for our Local Church and Ukraine, for the victory of truth and just peace.”
However, in his first interview as primate, given to the National Herald, Abp. John reiterated that the Albanian Synod has already said its piece on the matter of the OCU:
NH: Do you have an opinion on the division that has been caused in the Orthodox Church due to the autocephaly of Ukraine?
Abp John: We regret this. It was a tragedy that divided many Churches. Our position has already been expressed with the decisions of our Synod. We have nothing else to add.
We’re always open and we know that we’re a small Church. We have to make decisions on many issues. We’ve made every possible effort for reconciliation, because Abp. Anastasios was a man with vision and knew what would happen. And I think he was kind. He agreed on many things from both sides. He was one of the important people who united the primates in the Pan-Orthodox Councils. I was with him in all of this.
Asked how to achieve reconciliation, Abp. John said: “I can’t say exactly what needs to be done, but I believe that the most important thing is to have good will. If there’s good will, perhaps we’ll find a solution for the benefit of all.”
“At Abp. Anastasios's funeral, representatives from all Orthodox Churches participated. I was very happy to see them all together. I thought that Abp. Anastasios united them, even after his death,” he added.
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