Reprinted November 22, 2003, with permission from Parade and
Nicholas Gage © 2003. All rights reserved.
Albania — like Iraq today — once faced an uncertain future.
But in just 12 years, Archbishop Anastasios has helped inspire and restore a
brutalized people.
Archbishop Anastasios has
kept in place a bullet fired at his office by a sniper. “I keep it there to
remind me that life can end in a second,” he says.
‘We
Must Not Waste a Single Day’
By Nicholas Gage
BULLET
IS SUSPENDED in the window of the spartan Tirana office of Archbishop Anastasios,
head of the Orthodox Church of Albania — stopped in its flight toward him by
the double-glazed pane. It was fired by a sniper during the 1997 political
upheaval that pushed Albania — a predominantly Muslim country — into chaos
and almost claimed the archbishop's life. "I keep it there,"
Anastasios says, "to remind me that life can end in a second. We must not
waste a single day."
Few men use their days like Archbishop Anastasios. Frail but energetic, the 73-year-old prelate has spent the last 12 years overcoming immense obstacles to achieve a near miracle in one of the poorest countries in Europe.
During
communist rule, which lasted from 1945 to 1990, Albania — a nation of 3.5
million people north of Greece — became the only country in the world to
prohibit all practice of religion. Just the act of crossing oneself could lead
to a prison sentence. Every church, mosque and synagogue was destroyed or
converted to secular use as Albanians were isolated from the rest of the world.
In
the dozen years that Anastasios has been in Albania, he has not only resurrected
the Orthodox Church but also inspired a bitter, brutalized people. "I can't
think of anyone who has contributed more to the rebirth of Albania as a free
European nation," says Albania's Prime
Minister, Fatos to
stay and rebuild Nano. the Orthodo x How the Church himself. former university
When his professor managed appointment was to revive a people announced, many
battered by decades doubted that the of ruthles s fragile scholar —
dictatorship offers a born Anastasios powerful lesson to Yannoulatos in
Americans facing Piraeus, Greece — the same challenge was up to the in Iraq.
"Right now, challenge. Two Iraqis, like the severe attacks of Albanians
when I malaria had forced came here, are him to leave his suspicious
and Albania, a largely Muslim nation of 3.5 million, missionary
duties in hostile because is
one of the poorest countries in Europe. East
Africa, but he they lived in fear continued to teach and oppression for so
long," the and write books, including a respected archbishop says.
"The secret to changing study of Islam. those attitudes is to show that
Americans When the call came to go to care about and respect them. Respect for
Albania, "all reason told me this was a the other is the essence of both
mission without a chance," says the Christianity and democracy. It's
archbishop, who speaks five languages, especially important to stay true to that
ideal in places where cultures clash."
After
communism ollapsed, Archbishop Anastasios was sent to Albania in 1991 by the
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, the spiritual leader of Orthodox
Christians, to report on the country's religious situation. He found l600
churches destroyed and only 22 elderly priests still alive of the 440 who had
served Albania before communism. But Albanians were so desperate for religious
freedom, many gathered for services in fields where nothing remained of their
former churches but broken bells.
So the patriarch asked
Anastasios
With Dr. Charles Linderman at a clinic Anastasios
built.
nation.
He built 83 churc h buildings , repaired another 140 in ruins, restored five
monasteries and constructed a seminary, a convent and an archdioces e
headquarters.
"From the beginning, he has tried not only to resurrect the Orthodox Church of Albania but including English. "I was asked to revive the church without any financial support, in a destitute country undergoing a wrenching political transformation. I would have to learn a difficult language at an advanced age, live under harsh conditions and expect no protection against threats to my life. Everyone said I'd be crazy to stay."
Then,
he says, he saw the despair in the faces of the Albanians he met. "I
thought, `Who's going to help these people? Who's going to give them hope?' I
knew this was a test, and I said to myself, `If you have faith, stay and
struggle. If you don't, go home.'"
So he stayed. During the next also to serve all Albanians by building schools, medical clinics, youth centers, children's homes, nurseries and camps," says the Rev. Luke Veronis, 38, an Orthodox priest from Pennsylvania who has worked with the archbishop for nine years. "All are open to everyone — Christians, Muslims, nonbelievers."
UR
FIRST PRIORITY IS young people," explains Anastasios, who recently
comforted a group of village children lined up outside a mobile dental unit by
climbing into the van and letting the dentist examine his teethdecade, Archbisho
p Anastasios overcame centuries of ethnic and religious hostility to establish a
new church throughout an entire The admiration he
has earned from all Albanians save d Anastasios' mission — and probably his
life — more than once. Because he came from Greece, which has had border
disputes with Albania, and he defended the rights of minorities, including
ethnic Greeks, he was subjected to fierce attacks.
In
1994 — in an effort to get rid of Anastasios — Albania's first
democratically elected president, Sali Berisha, drafted a constitution that
required the head of the Orthodox Church to be born in Albania and live there
for 20 years. The constitution was put to a referendum; everyone was certain it
would pass because it had the government's support. The archbishop packed his
bags. But to everyone's amazement, the constitution was defeated; Albanians from
all major religions had voted against it.
In
time, Anastasios even won the admiration of Sali Berisha, who is now leader of
the major opposition party. "I respect what he has accomplished, especially
in rebuilding the Orthodox Church," Dr. Berisha, a heart surgeon, now says.
Having
survived the referendum, Anastasios faced more trouble in 1997, when Albania
exploded into chaos after the pyramid schemes that most Albanians had invested
in collapsed. All but 20 foreigners left the country, and anarchy prevailed as
mobs raided military depots, seizing a million rifles, and gunfire lit the
nights. The archbishop appeared on radio and television to urge calm and instill
hope. "International aid workers had fled, so all of us, including the
archbishop, delivered food to needy families, sometimes traveling eight hours to
remote villages to do it," says Penny Deligiannis, who headed the
humanitarian arm of the Orthodox Church in Albania.
"Every
night snipers would fire at my office and residence," the archbishop
recalls, "but none of them hit anyone, thank God."
Despite
the danger, he believes the experience brought him closer to the Albanians.
"It proved that we're not here just to play good Samaritans but to live
with them, share the risks they face and show that, in the worst of times, there
is always hope."
Two
years later, thousands of Albanians from Kosovo poured into the country when
Serb forces attacked them. "We helped as many refugees as possible, knowing
almost all of them were Muslims," Anastasios says. "We collected more
than $12 million to set up camps that housed, fed and cared for some 33,000
refugees."
That effort helped strengthen the archbishop' s standing wit h Albanian Muslims. "We strive to show that religiou s communities can come together and help each other," says Anastasios. "Islam has the possibility of becoming very aggressive or quite moderate. The important thing is to prevent religious institutions from falling into the hands of fanatics."
The
invasion of Iraq has disturbed all Arabs, he believes. "They feel wounded,
but if America shows that it is sincere in respecting the freedom and religion
of the people of Iraq, then attitudes in the Muslim world will improve
dramatically."
To
aid Albanian Muslims, the archbishop stretches his limited resources, which come
entirely from donations. An example is the state-of-the-art clinic in Tirana
where 3,000 to 4,000 people a month, mostly Muslims, are treated. "No one
is turned away," says Dr. Charles Linderman, 37, a physician from Cleveland
who runs the surgical unit, "and I know there are churches not being built
in order to keep the clinic going." Among those treated were the widow and
daughter of Enver Hoxha, the late Communist dictator who outlawed religion.
Archbishop
Anastasios is just as daring in dealing with his fellow Orthodox Christians.
"When we started our seminary, everyone was shocked that we accepted female
students," he recalls. "We needed them to direct programs and teach,
but I also believe women must play a greater role in the life of the
church."
As
a result of such progressive views and his accomplishments, the archbishop has drawn
Americans and Europeans to Albania — including doctors, nurses, priests,
architects and even computer experts — to help him in his work.
Anastasios'
most ambitious project, which he views as the capstone of his mission in
Albania, is to rebuild an Orthodox cathedral in Tirana to replace one that was
demolished by the Communists. The name he has chosen for the cathedral
embodies what he has accomplished for the Orthodox Church in Albania and the
Albanian people — Resurrection.
The
archbishop visits one of the schools he established.
Reprinted November 22, 2003, with permission from Parade and Nicholas Gage © 2003. All rights reserved.