One year without Archbishop Anastasios/ Archbishop Arjan Dodaj at the memorial conference: It was a gift for the entire people

2026-01-22 17:40:00, Aktualitet CNA

One year without Archbishop Anastasios/ Archbishop Arjan Dodaj at the memorial

An international memorial conference is taking place today in honor of the late Archbishop of Albania, Anastasios, on the occasion of the first anniversary of his passing.

His Eminence Arjan Dodaj was the first to speak at the conference, where he stated that Archbishop Anastasios was a gift to the Orthodox Church of Albania, to the entire people, and to himself.

Bishop Dodaj said that a deep spiritual connection existed between them, built on sincere brotherhood, mutual respect and pastoral love.

“With a deep feeling in my heart filled with gratitude to God, I greet you at this commemorative and honoring conference for His Beatitude, Archbishop of All Albania, Anastasios Janullatos, on the first anniversary of his passing into eternity.

On this evening as Archbishop of Tirana-Durrës, I thank God not only for the gift he has been to the Orthodox Church of Albania and to all the people of this land, but also for the personal gift he has been to me. There has been a deep spiritual bond between us, built on sincere brotherhood, mutual respect and pastoral love. I keep in my heart the memory of his fatherly embrace, which in every encounter with evangelical love accompanied Christ before words came.

"The risen Christ has defeated death in the hearts of many brothers and sisters, precisely through the testimony and life of His Beatitude Anastasius. And this victory remains tangibly engraved today in the Cathedral of the Resurrection in Tirana, a monumental sign of a religion resurrected from the ruins which today preserves His venerable remains and continues to proclaim that death does not have the last word ," said Archbishop Arjan Dodaj. /CNA