The Orthodox Church is devastated by the death of the popular and pioneering philanthropist, Archbishop Anastasios of Albania (1929-2025).

Looking back to Anastasios’ quotations of Love and Wisdom, we can distinguish the following as a seal of his personality: “Horizontal love for our fellow man is the complement and verification of vertical love for God“. Alongside his preaching, Anastasios resisted intolerance and continued to found schools in African countries-a unique missionary work that set him apart and established him in the world’s consciousness as the “archbishop of love”. Indicative of his personality is his phrase: “We pick up the stones thrown at us by those who fight our work and use them to build churches and schools“. Along with his work in the far corners of the world, his teachings on the Christian religion and its quintessence, peace, love of neighbour and of the different, remain indelible in people’s memories: “Every crime in the name of religion is a crime against religion itself. Every form of violence in the name of religion is, in all senses, a violation of religion itself. No war is sacred. Only peace is sacred.”

In a special statement, the Orthodox Academy of Crete expresses its regret for the death of Anastasios:

“Blessed Archbishop Anastasios was an iconic personality and the restorer and renovator of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania, which he literally raised from the ruins after the fall of the atheist regime. With his divinely inspired vision and tireless work, he radically rebuilt church life, erected hundreds of churches, established educational and charitable institutions and raised up new clergy, offering uninterrupted sacrificial ministry for more than 33 years.”

In turn, the Rectorate of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki expressed its feelings for the work of Anastasios:

“The Orthodox Hierarch, Honorary Doctorate of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Professor Emeritus of NKUA and Honorary Member of the Academy of Athens, was a shining example of a religious leader, spiritual pastor, university teacher and fighter who was internationally recognized and universally accepted for his multifaceted contribution to his fellow man and society. He embraced and promoted the message of Christianity, always having at the centre of his action the concept of love, solidarity and social contribution.”

Finally, the Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni bid farewell to Anastasios with an emotionally charged comment:

“For the course of the blessed Archbishop, words are very poor. Archbishop Anastasios combined, throughout his entire career, as a theologian and hierarch, as a preacher and as a missionary, an inspiring pastorate with a multifaceted charitable concern. This is evidenced by the social work that he founded and bequeathed throughout his many years of missionary activity and, above all, to the Church of Albania, which he revived and developed into an institution that contributed decisively to the recovery, material and spiritual, of the country.

Archbishop Anastasios was an ecumenical figure who belonged not only to Christianity and Orthodoxy, but to humanity. An accessible but robust voice of reconciliation and love, a man who stood for mutual understanding, peaceful coexistence of people of different backgrounds and beliefs, fighting inequalities, ensuring peace and stability.

During our long acquaintance, I had the opportunity to admire not only his deep theological education and his multifaceted culture, but above all his generosity, his simplicity and his humility. To benefit from his vast experience and advice. Above all, however, to stand with unquestioning respect before a life’s work that will continue to bear fruit, both in its own right, thanks to the institutions he created, and as an example to be emulated.

The Archbishop of Albania passed away at a time when his imposing, yet so venerable and accessible, figure and his modest and evocative discourse were absolutely necessary to us. We are comforted, however, by the thought that he was spent, throughout his mundane life, in the service of his fellow human beings, leaving a huge legacy that will continue to inspire and guide us.”