Today, we bid farewell to His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana, Durrës, and All Albania.

Today, the Orthodox faithful of Albania, with the weight of great sorrow in their hearts, will accompany their beloved Chief Shepherd to his eternal rest.

Today, Orthodoxy is in mourning, for we will no longer have Archbishop Anastasios among us; his resonant voice, his living word, and the angelic light he gave to all will be missed. 

Yes, from today, we will no longer have Archbishop Anastasios alive; we will not see him among us, but we will see and feel his legacy everywhere; tangible and intangible works, the works of God and man that He sent us, but above all the love of God.

Archbishop Anastasius descended like an Angel in Albania, physically and spiritually ravaged by communism, He found a population half-asleep from communist opium and in a fearful lethargy, poisoned by the ideological atheism of the dictatorship of the proletariat - a society far, very far from the love and faith of God.

He descended like an Angel in country of ruins, of destruction down to the foundations of churches, in a society that had stoned the people of God and had killed and persecuted all those who had dared to think that there is not only a party but also God, a society in the abyss of the losing of faith, of spiritual destruction and the denial of human, family and social values.

He descended like an Angel with the torch of God in his hand, in the midst of darkness to spread the light and the Word of God, to free souls from the yoke of sin and hatred, to give them love, goodness, the Word of God and to courageously illuminate the path to freedom and truth.

He came to us with the apostolic mission of our spiritual Chief Shepherd and, like an Angel, flew to falling asleep in the Lord, to leave us the heavy burden of his legacy: the task of following His path and footsteps, of preserving His work and of enriching and perpetuating His memory.

Archbishop Anastasios was a Missionary of the spirit and of the work of God. He obeyed the word of God and His name became beloved and respected not only within the Orthodox Church in Albania and the Albanian Orthodox believers but also in all other Orthodox Churches throughout the world, and beyond.

Archbishop Anastasios, a well-read teacher, wise and gentle, unique intellectual and personality, a theologian and philosopher, an erudite, a prominent thinker and scholar, an academic with world values, a man of great stature, a prominant individual, a prominent figure, showed love, devotion, dedication, commitment and unwavering, invincible, unyielding and titanic determination to do what no one else could do in our beloved Albania, during the years after communist darkness and that no one had done before, in our history.

He never grew tired of helping to strengthen religious coexistence and harmony and fostering relations and dialogue between different religious communities, as well as spreading the spirit of love, peace and reconciliation, avoiding hatred, promoting forgiveness and respect for all, regardless of faith, ethnicity or social status.

His commitment to strengthening the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in Albania, through helping establish a strong church hierarchy and supporting educated clergy is extraordinary, crucial, and irreversible. Above all He deeply impacted the rise of the prestige of the Church and Albania in the international arena.

Being a prominent and respected leader throughout the Christian world, Archbishop Anastas and his work leave us with a powerful message to respect the dignity of every human being and help unite the Orthodox and international community, away from purposeful political influences and interventions.

His life is an example of tireless dedication to God and humanity, a strong and unwavering unity that had a profound theological and practical impact within the Orthodox community and in our society. His personality will live long beyond his time. Through life, his work and memory will be immortalized.

We have the great obligation to always remember with deep gratitude Archbishop Anastasios for his unwavering dedication and the extraordinary work he has left to the Orthodox Church and Albanian society. His absence will be felt more and more strongly as time passes, and his legacy will be more and more appreciated, as a guiding light for future generations. He has left a deep mark and a path to follow that will live forever, as a symbol of the man of God, faith, love and unity among us.

The bells of the Cathedral “Resurrection of Christ” in Tirana will ring today to accompany, with great sorrow, to his eternal home, our beloved Archbishop Anastasius, this good Albanian who dedicated his life to the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania, the Orthodox community, Albania, and all Albanians.