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History Byzantine Empire Crusades Ecumenical council Great Schism Eastern Christianity refers collectively to the Christian traditions and churches which developed in Greece, the Balkans, the rest of Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Middle East, northeastern Africa and southern India over several centuries of religious antiquity. ... Image File history File links HY002563. ... Byzantine Empire (native Greek name: - Basileia tōn Romaiōn) is the term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire of the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ... This article is about the medieval crusades. ... In Christianity, an Ecumenical Council or general council is a meeting of the bishops of the whole church convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Traditions Assyrian Church of the East Oriental Orthodoxy Syriac Christianity Eastern Orthodox Church Eastern Rite Catholics The Holy Apostolic and Catholic Assyrian Church of the East under His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV, is a Christian church that traces its origins to the See of Babylon, said to be founded by Saint Thomas the Apostle. ... The term Oriental Orthodoxy refers to the communion of Eastern Christian Churches that recognize only the first three ecumenical councils — the First Council of Nicaea, the First Council of Constantinople and the Council of Ephesus — and rejected the dogmatic definitions of the Council of Chalcedon. ... Syriac Christianity is a culturally and linguistically distinctive community within Eastern Christianity. ... The Eastern Orthodox Church is a religious organization which claims to be the continuation of the original Christian body, founded by Jesus and his Twelve Apostles. ... The domes of an Ukrainian Catholic parish in Simpson, Pennsylvania This article refers to Eastern Churches in full communion with the See of Rome. ...

Liturgy and Worship Divine Liturgy Iconography The Divine Liturgy is the common term for the eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. ... Iconography usually refers to the design or creation of images and more specifically to the historical study of art which aims at the identification, description and the interpretation of the content of images. ...

Theology Apophaticism - Filioque clause Miaphysitism - Monophysitism Nestorianism - Panentheism Theosis Negative theology - also known as the Via Negativa (Latin for Negative Way) and Apophatic theology - is a theology that attempts to describe God by negation, to speak of God only in terms of what may be said about God and to avoid what may not be said. ... In Christian theology the filioque clause or filioque controversy (filioque meaning and [from] the Son) is a heavily disputed part of the Nicene Creed, that forms a divisive difference between some Christian sects. ... Miaphysitism is the christology of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. ... Monophysitism (from the Greek monos meaning one, alone and physis meaning nature) is the christological position that Christ has only one nature, as opposed to the Chalcedonian position which holds that Christ has two natures, one divine and one human. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Panentheism (Greek words: pan=all, en=in and Theos=God; all-in-God) is the view that God is immanent within all Creation or that God is the animating force behind the universe. ... In Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic theology, theosis, meaning divinization (or deification or, to become god), is the call to man to become holy and seek union with God, beginning in this life and later consummated in the resurrection. ... This box: view • talk • edit • hist.

The Orthodox Authocephalous Church of Albania is one of the newest autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches, having only been established in the 20th century. Since its beginning it has had a difficult time. In its early days the use of the Greek language language in the rituals was seen as a threat to Albanian ethnic identity by Albanian nationalists. In hierarchical Christian churches, especially Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches, autocephaly is the status of a hierarchical church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. ... The Eastern Orthodox Church is a religious organization which claims to be the continuation of the original Christian body, founded by Jesus and his Twelve Apostles. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... Greek (, IPA — Hellenic) has a documented history of 3,500 years, the longest of any single language within the Indo-European family. ...

The church suffered during the Second World War, and in the communist period that followed, especially after 1967 when Albania was declared an atheist state, and no public or private expression of religion was allowed. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ...

The church has, however, seen a revival since religious freedom was restored in 1991, with more than 250 churches rebuilt or restored, and more than 100 clergy being ordained. 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The Church currently has four dioceses, Tirana, Durrës and Elbasan; Berat and Kanina; Gjirokastër; and Korçë. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Durrës (Italian: Durazzo; see also different names) is the most ancient and one of the most economically important important cities of Albania. ... Elbasan (Albanian: Elbasan or Elbasani) is a city in central Albania. ... Berat (Albanian: Berat or Berati) is a town located in south-central Albania at . ... Gjirokastër, as seen from the Citadel. ... Korçë (Albanian: Korçë or Korça, Greek: Κορυτσά, Korytsá, Italian: Corizza, South Slavic: Корча, Korcha or Корче, Korče, Aromanian: Curceaua, (Turkish: Görice) is a major city in south-eastern Albania, located at 40°37′N 20°46′E near the border with Greece. ...

History

Christianity in Albania goes back to the 1st century when missionaries from Judaea came to the Balkans with St Paul. The 1st century was that century which lasted from 1 to 100 according the Gregorian calendar. ...

Autocephaly

Albanian nationalist Sami Frasheri wanted to see Greek elements in worship removed and Albanian used as the main language of priests and liturgy. The idea for an autocephalous church was first proposed in the Albanian newspaper in Romania, Drita ("The Light"). It was finally established by Fan Noli on April 12, 1937 when the Patriarch officially recognized it as autocephalous. Theophan (Fan) Stylian Noli (January 6, 1882 - March 13, 1965) was an Albanian bishop and politician, who served briefly as prime minister and regent of Albania in 1924. ...

Persecution

The church greatly suffered during the dictatorship of Enver Hoxha as all churches were placed under government control and land originally held by religious institutions were taken by the state. Religion in schools were banned. In 1952 Archbishop Kristofor was discovered dead; most believed he had been killed. Enver Hoxha, (IPA , October 16, 1908–April 11, 1985) was the paramount leader of Albania from the end of World War II until his death in 1985, as the First Secretary of the Communist Albanian Party of Labour. ... 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In 1967, inspired by China's cultural revolution, Hoxha closed down all churches and mosques in the country, and declared Albania the world's first (and only) atheist state. All expression of religion, public or private, was outlawed. Hundreds of priests and imams were killed or imprisoned. 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (Simplified Chinese: , Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Wúchǎn Jiējí Wénhuà Dà Gémìng; literally Proletarian Cultural Great Revolution; often abbreviated to 文化大革命 wénhuà dà gémìng, literally Great Cultural Revolution, or even simpler, to 文革 wéngé, Cultural Revolution) in the People...

Revival

At the end of the communist rule, when religious freedom was restored, only 22 priests remained alive.

The Ecumenical Patriarch appointed Professor Anastasios Yannoulatos to be the Patriarchal Exarch for the Albanian Church. Bishop of Androutsa Anastasios before his appointment was dividing his time between his teaching duties at the University of Athens and the Archbishopric of Irinoupolis in Kenya, which was then going through a difficult patch. The Patriarch of Constantinople is the Ecumenical Patriarch, the first among equals in the Eastern Orthodox Communion. ... The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greek: Εθνικόν και Καποδιστριακόν Πανεπιστήμιον Αθηνών), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens, is the oldest university in the region of the eastern Mediterranean and has been in continuous operation since its establishment in 1837. ...

He was named Archbishop of Tirana on 24 June 1992 and enthroned on 2 August 1992. Though at first seen by the Albanian state as a possibly dangerous Greek nationalist, Anastasios has gained respect for his charity work and now is recognised as a spiritual leader of the Albanian Church, although many Albanian Orthodox still are not comfortable having a Greek primate in their own country. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... June 24 is the 175th day of the year (176th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 190 days remaining. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... August 2 is the 214th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (215th in leap years), with 151 days remaining. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ...

Archbishop Anastasios insisted from the start that the church that was to be revived would be an Albanian Church, but has greately increased Greek influence in the church. Liturgical books and literature were produced in the Albanian language between the 1910-1940s. There are very few Albanian publications after his enthronment, while the Orthodox Albanians continue to use the New Testament published by the Biblical Society in 1879 (This is a delectical translation, based on Kinga James' Version, while most Albanian use standard Albanian in their daily life and activity).

Anastasios started a seminary, initially in a disused hotel, and later in its own buildings at Shen Vlash, 15 kilometres from the port of Durres.

While most parishes use Albanian, there is a problem in the ethnicaly mixed areas, where Greek is the dominant language. The biggest problem is in the southest city of Saranda, where Albanian is not allowed in liturgy although the Greeks are the minority in the city.

After the 1990s half of the Orthodox population left Albania mainly to Greece, Italy, North America, etc, but no Albanian parish was established to fulfill their pastoral needs, which are mainly fulfilled by the Greek parishes. This, the new diaspora, remains the most challenging question for the future primate of the Albanian Church.

External links

• Official Site of the Albanian Orthodox Church (Warning: requires Flash)
• Albanian Orthodox Library by Foti Cici