The Presidency Board of the INFSH, a congratulatory visit to the new Archbishop, His Beatitude Joan

2025-04-07 16:32:00, Aktualitet CNA

The Presidency Board of the INFSH, a congratulatory visit to the new Archbishop,

Today, on April 7, 2025, the Board of the Presidency of the Interreligious Council of Albania paid a congratulatory visit to the new Archbishop of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania, His Beatitude Joani, recently elected head of the Interreligious Council of Albania.

The visit took place at the premises of the Archdiocese, where members of the Presidency Board of the Interreligious Council of Albania, as well as leaders of all religious communities in the country, participated: Mons. Gjergj Meta, President of the ICFCA (2025) and President of the Catholic Episcopal Conference of Albania; H. Bujar Spahiu, President of the Muslim Community of Albania; H. Dede Edmond Brahimaj, World Patriarch of the Bektashi Order; Pastor Ergest Biti, President of the Evangelical Brotherhood of Albania; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Genti Kruja, Secretary General of the ICFCA and President of Religions for Peace Europe, as well as Ms. Sheldiana Jano, lawyer and financial officer at the Interreligious Council.

All religious leaders expressed their heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to His Beatitude Archbishop Ioan for his well-deserved election as head of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania. They expressed their full conviction that he will significantly contribute to strengthening interreligious dialogue, not only as a national responsibility, but also as a mission for educating the younger generations and facing the common challenges of Albanian society.

In accordance with the statute of the Interreligious Council of Albania, each head of a religious community is a member of the Presidency Board and, on a rotational basis, each of them takes the lead of the IAC for a period of one calendar year. In this context, His Beatitude, Archbishop Joani, is also the youngest member of this Board.

This visit constitutes a testament to the Albanian tradition of interfaith coexistence and harmony, inherited from generation to generation and cultivated over centuries by the country's religious leaders, as an expression of the spirit of dialogue, understanding and unity in Albanian society./CNA