With the participation of delegations from autocephalous Orthodox churches, delegations in places of Orthodox churches, officials of the Albanian, Greece and other countries, today, at 12 hours of Greece, his official enthronement ceremony is held. new Archbishop Tirana, Durres and all Albania John.

The ceremony will take place at Cathedral of the Resurrection of the Lord in Tirana, and will be preceded by the Hierarch’s Divine Liturgy, co -operating members of the Holy Synod of the Albanian Orthodox Autocephalous Church.

The Church of Greece and the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Hieronymus will be represented by the Metropolitan of Nea Krini and Kalamaria Justin, while the Greek Minister of National Defense and the Minister of National Defense, Nikimas, the Minister of Non.

The new Archbishop of Albania John is the Second Archbishop of Orthodox Autocephalous Church of the countryafter the fall of the Communist regime and the first Albanian Archbishop from 1967 onwards.

Thirty -three years after the enthronement of Archbishop Blessed Anastasios, the 69 -year -old Archbishop of Albania will be called upon to continue with spirit of love the way the predecessor made And his spiritual father, with the help of the members of the Holy Synod of the Church of Albania, Metropolitan Argyrokastro Dimitrios, Apollonia and Farolaou, Elbasan Antoniou, Beratios, Avlonos and Caninos Astaiou, Amantia Nathaeli.

Who is the new Archbishop

Archbishop John, according to Fatmir Peloussi, was born in 1956 in Koritsa, whose Orthodox church served as Metropolitan after his enthronement in 1998.

In his interviews, he has revealed that the years of persecution of any religion in Atheist Albania was interested in religious issues and even in 1975 he experienced Christianity from a copy in the French New Testament, which his friend gave him. Searches followed at the Tirana Central Library, where secret books of all religions were borrowed. The next high -risk step for himself and his family, in Albania, was his involvement in a secret group of Christians who met in various homes in Koritsa. His baptism was the same secret by Father Kosmas and was named John.

Following the fall of the Communist regime in Albania, he had the opportunity to study at the Orthodox Theological School of the Holy Cross in Boston, with a scholarship established by the Albanian community in America in memory of Bishop Van Noli and graduated in 1993, then in 1993. At the invitation of the Hierarch, John returned to Albania to help his important work and in 1994 he was initially ordained a deacon and the end of the same year priest by Archbishop Anastasios.

With a master’s degree in Theological Studies, he served as a lecturer and dean of the Theological Academy of the Albanian Orthodox Church. In 1996 he was appointed Director of the Theological School of Durres and became Archimandrite.

On July 18, 1998 he was elected Metropolitan of Koritsa and was enthroned a few days later.