Thousands of Albanians pay last respects to Orthodox Christian Archbishop Anastasios

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Thousands of Albanians gathered in the capital on Thursday to pay their last respects to Archbishop Anastasios, who revived the country’s Orthodox Christian Church after the fall of the Communist party in 1990.

Anastasios, who was the Archbishop of Tirana, Durres, and All Albania and also head of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania, died on Jan. 25 in Athens. He was 95.

A somber mood prevailed as people massed in the streets around the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in downtown Tirana.

“Honoring the work of such a great personality means honoring ourselves, our church, our country,” said Metropolitan John of Korça, the temporary leader of the church in Albania, during a liturgy that was held in both Albanian and Greek.

“No doubt that as a personality and as an archbishop Anastasios was irreplaceable,” said Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.

All forms of religion were banned in Albania for 23 years from 1967, when the country was completely isolated from the outside world. The Communists also expropriated the property of the established Islamic, Orthodox, Catholic and other religions.

Anastasios led the church after he re-established it in 1991.

Albania's leaders and visiting Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis were joined Thursday by representatives of Orthodox clergy from around the world. Albanians and world religious leaders also attended the funeral service.

"It should be said without doubt that Anastasios came among us 33 years ago as a priest from Greece and after 33 years he leaves us as Albania’s Anastasios,” said Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.

The Greek leader described Anastasios as “a bridge of friendship among the two peoples" and “a diplomat of love.”

It took two days for Anastasios's funeral procession to reach Tirana by car after it entered the country through the southern border with Greece.

A similar service was held at the main Greek Orthodox Church cathedral in Athens before the procession to Tirana.

The religious leaders and others inside the cathedral kissed Anastasios' right hand as they passed by, before the casket left the building to go to the crypt where it will rest.

Born Anastasios Yannoulatos in Piraeus, Greece on Nov. 4, 1929, he arrived in Albania in 1991, immediately after the collapse of the Communists that had ruled the country since the mid-1940s

Anastasios has been praised for rebuilding the church from the ground up, building hundreds of churches, establishing educational and charitable institutions, and educating a new generation of clergy.

According to the 2023 census, Orthodox Christians in Albania make up about 7% of the country's 2.4 million population, although the church says the actual number is higher. Half the population of the tiny Western Balkan country identifies as Muslim, with Orthodox and Catholic Christians making up much of the remainder.

The Albanian Orthodox Church will elect Anastasios' replacement.