Spiritual head of the Christian Orthodox world visits Tirana with heads of other churches in the region.
TIRANA, June 2 – Albania’s Orthodox Church on Sunday held a ceremony to consecrate the new Orthodox Cathedral of Resurrection of Christ with the participation of key leaders of Orthodox Christian world.
“The consecration of the cathedral is not only a special blessing for Albania’s Orthodox Christians, but also a reaffirmation of Orthodox Christianity worldwide,” said a statement of the Albanian Orthodox Church.
The complex of the new Resurrection of Christ Cathedral, situated in downtown Tirana, includes the Chapel of the Nativity of Jesus Christ, a bell tower and the Cathedral center, and symbolizes the rebirth of the autocephalous Albanian Orthodox Church.
All Albania’s senior officials — President Bujar Nishani, Parliament Speaker Ilir Meta, Prime Minister Edi Rama and Tirana Mayor and leader of opposition Democratic Party Lulzim Basha — took part at the ceremony led by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, who is the spiritual leader of the Orthodox word.
“With this building project, the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania aims to contribute towards the fulfillment of the faithful people’s religious needs, the spiritual cultivation of the youth, and the enhancement of Tirana’s cultural and social life, and that of all Albania,” the church said in a statement.
Political controversy surrounds Serb patriarch’s comments
Serbia’s Patriarch Irinej was also part of the ceremonies, and his words at an interview to Top Channel that Kosovo was Serbia’s sacred land sparked a number of reactions in Albania. Irinej failed to mention the brutal crackdown on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo by the Milosevic regime, which had the full backing of the Serb Orthodox Church during the Kosovo war, critics said.
Prime Minister Rama expressed displeasure with the Serb cleric’s words about Kosovo in a meeting with the church representatives and cancelled his attendance at a dinner organized by the church.
Prime Minister Rama said later that such words from Irinej were not in good faith and not linked to the religious ceremony. He said they did not help the Balkans go ahead toward Europe.
Rama is himself is of Orthodox Christian background and is one of several Albanian prime ministers of a Christian background in the past century, including Fan Stilian Noli, an Albanian nationalist Orthodox priest and founder of the Albanian Orthodox Church. About 59 percent of Albania’s population is Muslim, according the latest census.
Activists from Albania’s nationalist Red and Black Alliance tried to protest against the Serbian Orthodox Church delegation that attended the ceremony. They were forced to leave by police, which made arrests. Later, the Serb delegation unfolded a large Serb flag in front of the cathedral and took photos.
Albania is a secular country that has a long tradition of religious tolerance and coexistence. According to the 2011 census, 58.79 percent of Albanians said they are Muslims, followed by Christians (Orthodox and Catholics) with 17 percent. The rest are irreligious or belong to smaller religious group, according the census.
In 1967, religious practices were officially banned in Albania, making the country the first and only constitutionally atheist state to ever exist. Just before the fall of state communism, in 1990 religious activities resumed.
