The Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Albania elected the new Orthodox Archbishop on Sunday, March 16. His Beatitude Joan was elected unanimously as the most worthy, ahead of the Bishop of Fier, Nikola, and the Bishop of Gjirokastra, Dhimitri. Many believers were present at the Orthodox Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Tirana, who had come to be present at this event, which Albania witnessed for the first time since the time of the communist dictatorship.
The newly elected Archbishop Ioannis has been a close collaborator of the late Archbishop Anastasios for 32 years, of which 27 years as Metropolitan of Korça. He has distinguished himself for his pastoral work and contribution to the reconstruction of the Church, the development of theological education and the strengthening of the Church’s charitable activities. A graduate with excellent results in theological studies in the USA, he returned to Albania to contribute alongside Archbishop Anastasios to the recovery of the destroyed Church of Albania.
Since 1993, he has served as a professor at the Theological Academy of Durrës, translator of many theological texts and author of the first text of Dogmatics in Albanian. He founded the magazine “Tempulli”, represented the Church at inter-Orthodox and inter-Christian meetings and has been honored with prominent titles for his contribution to culture, education and inter-religious dialogue.
Before pursuing his pastoral calling, Archbishop Joan served in a psychiatric hospital. (A2 Televizion)
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