“It is important that academic theology move in step with the living Church, just as the Church must listen attentively to the voice of theology. Concerning the theme of the International Conference, ‘Theology as Witness,’ a theology that refers to the missionary and ecclesial vision of the late Archbishop reveals the admirable harmony between academic research and ecclesial ministry,” stated His Beatitude, the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Ieronymos, in his opening address to the International Conference, ‘Theology as Witness.” The Missionary and Ecclesial Vision of Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana, Durrës, and All Albania (Yannoulatos). An Event in Memory of the First Anniversary of His Repose.”
The conference is being held in the Events Hall of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece. Following the formal opening of the conference and welcoming remarks by Dr. Evi Voulgaraki-Pisinna, Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece emphasized in his address:
“We are still living in the radiant post-festal period of the great Feast of the Nativity of our Lord. In the liturgical cycle, less than a month has passed since the Son and Word of God emptied Himself and became a humble human being who experienced poverty, cold, and suffering as a mortal. ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace,’ we chanted in recent days, together with the shepherds of Bethlehem and the angels surrounding the holy altar during the Divine Liturgy.
The vulnerability and mortality of the newly born Child, tossed about in the suffering of the world, constitute the beginning of the great chapter of the salvation of humanity and creation itself, which ‘groans and labors together’ (Rom. 8:22). Betrayal, death, the descent into Hades, Hades’ astonishment upon encountering Christ the Giver of Life, the Resurrection, and the expectation of the resurrection of all constitute the completion of the salvation chapter and, in short, the heart of Christian teaching and faith.
Only a few days have passed since we mourned the repose of a brother, His Beatitude Anastasios of Tirana, Durrës, and All Albania, and affirmed our hope in the Resurrection.
His Beatitude Anastasios of Albania now stands face-to-face with Christ, the giver of life and savior. Although we who still live in this world cannot partake in the fullness of the late Archbishop’s ineffable mysteries in Christ after death, nor can we conceive or comprehend them, we can certainly describe his tangible life and ministry within historical time and our shared contemporaneity.
The Church teaches through worship, through her word, and, above all, through her actions—her lived witness along the path and example of Christ.
Our late brother Anastasios taught in all three ways. Those more qualified than I will speak in detail at this conference about the various dimensions of his work. For this reason, we commend the conference organizers for offering us the opportunity today to study and reflect on the multifaceted work of this blessed hierarch, especially its missionary dimension. We congratulate the Memory and Innovation Association for taking this worthy initiative, as well as the collaborating institutions: Sankt Ignatios College of Stockholm and the Religious Studies and Bioethics of Religions “Vasileios Fanaras” and Canon Law Laboratories of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens’ Department of Social Theology and Religious Studies.
Academic theology must walk in harmony with the living Church, and the Church must listen attentively to the voice of theology. In the context of this International Conference’s theme, “Theology as Witness,” the theology that refers to the missionary and ecclesial vision of the late Archbishop highlights this admirable harmony between academic research and ecclesial ministry. Here, theory and practice move together in the field of the Church’s pastoral and missionary care, which can and must be served by corresponding missionary theological study.
His Beatitude Anastasios arrived in Albania as Exarch in 1991 and as Archbishop in 1992, with the blessing and mandate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. This occurred immediately following the collapse of the most atheistic regime Europe had ever known. He found ashes—but also a living fire hidden within the ashes. He discovered them and tended to them. He rebuilt a church from the ground up. He provided ordinations, churches, and relics, and he restored icons and monuments. He spoke to the souls of the people, cared for education—both theological and secular—and cultivated the ethos of the Church’s leadership. With the help of our country, the entire world, and sister churches, the Church of Albania stood on its feet once again. Once more, the sound of the bell was heard, calling the faithful to the church and, by extension, to the kingdom of God. Today, ecclesial work continues there and here, resurrectional and alive. The friendship between our peoples, in which faith has held a central place, flourishes and thrives.
Greetings were then delivered by the representative of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew: Metropolitan Theodoretos of Laodicea. Greetings were also delivered by the representative of Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem: Archimandrite Cherouvim Moustakas. The message of Archbishop Ioannis of Tirana, Durrës, and All Albania was read by the Metropolitan of Apollonia and Fier, Nikolaos. Others who offered greetings included the Vice-Rector for Administrative Affairs, Student Welfare, and Lifelong Learning of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), Professor Christos Karagiannis; the Dean of Sankt Ignatius College in Sweden, Professor Michael Hjälm; the President of the Department of Social Theology and Religious Studies, as well as the Director of the Laboratory of Religious Studies and Bioethics of Religions “Vasileios Fanaras” at NKUA, Professor Kirki Kefalea; and the Director of the Laboratory of Canon Law at NKUA, Professor Eirini Christinaki.
This was followed by the Metropolitan of Apollonia and Fier Nikolaos’s keynote address, entitled “The Theological Vision of Archbishop Anastasios and Its Significance for Our Time.” The opening ceremony concluded with the screening of a seven-minute video entitled “The Balkans.”
Academics, students, clergy, and laypeople were also in attendance. Accompanying the Archbishop was the General Archiepiscopal Commissioner of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens, Protopresbyter Emmanuel Papamikroulis.
Photos: Christos Bonis / Translated by Ioanna Georgakopoulou
