by Dame Mary Tanner
It was with much sadness that I received news of the death of dear Archbishop Anastasios of Albania. I count it as one of the great privileges of my life to have worked closely with him when we were both Presidents of the World Council of Churches from the Assembly at Porto Alegre in 2006 to the Assembly in Busan in 2013.
He was gentle and kind at our meetings and a good listener. He believed in the work of the WCC and had been deeply involved since his first contact with the Council in 1963 when he attended a Conference on World Mission and Evangelism. In 1983, after the Vancouver Assembly, he became Moderator of the Commission with its theme, ‘Your will be done: mission in Christ’s way’, a theme which was to have a great influence on his continuing work. Mission was vitally important to him but so too was the unity of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. For him the two belonged together. He was one of the few who kept mission and unity inextricably together. Anastasios served also as a member of the Commission on Dialogues with Other Churches and Ideologies from 1975 – 1983 and was a member of the Central Committee from 1998 to 2006.
Archbishop Anastasios brought to our presidential meetings his long involvement with the Council. He was our continuing memory. He was eager to maintain the continuity of ecumenical commitment as well as to work to deepen the ecumenical vision for the future. Remembering what had been achieved was important and ought not to be forgotten. He opened up for us Presidents the rich Orthodox Tradition and spirituality. At the same time he wanted the Orthodox not to be isolated, but open to the insights of other Christian traditions. He wanted to help the Orthodox see the responsibility they had to the whole Christian world and not remain isolated in their own communities. He never tired of reminding us that it was a scandal for Christians to remain divided.
There were hard issues we had to face together as Presidents in those years theological, institutional and personal. I valued more than I can say that Archbishop Anastasios would listen to the different views around the table and help us arrive at a common mind as we sought a way forward. He was a bridge builder and always concerned for the well- being of the individual.
It was towards the end of our time as Presidents that His Beatitude Anastasios visited the Church of England and addressed the General Synod gathered in York on behalf of the ecumenical participants at Synod. During his Address he spoke movingly of the grueling and long-lasting persecutions in Albania from 1944 – 1990 during which all expressions of religion were banned and hundreds of churches destroyed or converted for other uses. He told the Synod how from different backgrounds Greeks and Slavs had managed to come together and build new churches together creating work for thousands of people and how the Church was involved in social work and education. The Orthodox existed peacefully with other churches as well as Muslim refugees. He concluded his story with a moving statement of hope in a common struggle for peace and justice: ‘We dare to hope’.
It is remarkable that a church leader so involved in his local context in dire circumstances also found time and energy to be deeply involved in the multilateral work of the WCC and in bilateral ecumenical dialogues. He maintained his belief in the ecumenical movement and the need to state and re-state its vision. He brought his local experience of bridge building and was someone who dared to hope not only in his local context but also dared to hope in the ecumenical pilgrimage. May we remember the example he gave us of hope in the battle for peace and justice and for the visible unity of the Church which is God’s gift and our calling
How blessed our group of Presidents was to have Archbishop Anastasios as one of us around our president’s table, a bridge builder who believed deeply in the work and witness of the WCC and who kept our work grounded in prayer. When he became a President in 2006 an interviewer asked him about the ecumenical movement. He replied: ‘it is not an institution, a house; it is more like a river. A river exists in different environments, starting as a source and changing as it flows along. But a river is extremely beautiful and extremely useful for the whole environment.’ He went on, ‘the ecumenical movement is a must for all of us. We must think together, we must speak together and act together, and even quarrel together, without letting other ambiguous or secular interests interfere with and pollute the river.’
As His All Holiness said, the past should not be forgotten. We do well to remember also his example of dedication to the Orthodox Tradition together with his openness to those of other Christian traditions and his hope for a common endeavor for justice, peace and the care for creation. May we say with him- ‘We dare to hope’, a message that surely needs to be heard and lived today.
May Archbishop Anastasios rest in peace and rise in glory!
