The death of Archbishop Anastasios (Yannoulatos) today, at age 95, has left Eastern Orthodoxy without the brightest light of humility and love that Jesus Christ taught.

In this, he undoubtedly outshone all hierarchs of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

After the death of communist dictator in 1985, who made Albania the only country in the world that completely banned the practice of all religions, the Ecumenical Patriarchate began the arduous path of reconstituting an ancient church, that is said to have its roots in the time of the Apostle Paul, as there was a Christian community in the city of Dyrrachium (contemporary Durres in the early Christian period.

In one of his wisest acts, as the top leader of Eastern Orthodoxy, Patriarch Bartholomew tapped Anastasios – whose profound Christian faith, modesty, and prudence made him an ideal pick to grapple with a hostile environment, to be his exarch, or official envoy, in Albania, and later Archbishop of the Autocephalous (self-administered) Archdiocese of Albania

Reviled by Albanian nationalists

He was fought tooth and nail throughout his tenure by Albanian nationalists, who at times even unleashed death threats

Anastasios undertook a gargantuan task that one might conclude few others, if anyone, could have accomplished.

He resurrected from its ashes a Church that had been completely destroyed by Hoxha, eventually erecting over 600 Orthodox churches in the country.

On that path, he built strong bridges with the various religions and Christian confessions in the country, in a spirit of love, inclusion, and truth.

Though a predominantly Muslim country (57 percent) Albania also has Roman Catholics (10%), Eastern Orthodox (6.8%), Bektashi (a Sufi order, 2.1%).

Anastasios in his tenure built in Tirana an ultra-modern polyclinic that treats Albanians of all religions and ethnic groups.

Over the decades, he also waged difficult years-long legal battles to reclaim Church properties expropriated under Hoxha.

The beginnings

Anastasios began his path in the Orthodox Church of Greece as a member of the “Brotherhood of Theologians Zoe [life]”, a conservative, pietistic group that played a major role in church affairs in the 1950’s and 1960, operating very conservative Sunday schools and Christian summer camps throughout the country and playing a key role in directing the faithful to the study of the Gospels, an endeavour previously neglected by the Orthodox Church of Greece.

The brotherhood (now essentially defunct) had an incalculable influence on the Church of Greece, but it was later slammed by distinguished figures such as philosopher-theologianYannaras as a narrow-minded ultra-conservative exponent of the superiority of the Orthodox faith over all other Christian confessions. Women were obliged to wear head scarves and dresses down to the ankles, tying their hair in a bun.

The open-minded, liberal thinker

Anastasios was different. A liberal, open-minded cleric, he fiercely promoted a conciliatory attitude toward other faiths and Christian confessions.

In the deepest sense, in his life he demonstrated that all human beings are created equal, in the image of God. He promoted the message of Jesus Christ with all his heart, soul and mind – in Greece, Africa, and of course Albania.

I had the privilege of interviewing him, visiting him at his Athens home, and having a number of chance encounters at various events.

What I remember most is that when he he spoke to one, his eyes shone with a sparkling glow of love, and that when he spoke to you it was as if you were the only person in the world.

Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece resided in Zoe’s Athens lodgings in Athens during his studies in theology and Byzantine art history.

Anastasios left Zoe more than half a century ago and charted his own course in the Orthodox Church of Greece, where the hierarchy treated him with a combination of disdain and jealousy.

Though his name was at times brought up as an excellent choice for the Archbishop of Athens and all Greece, the Church never even elected him to be a Metropolitan bishop with a flock.

Instead, he was made titular bishop of Androusis (responsible for the Church’s “Apostolic Ministry”), which was not a real metropolitanate, and then elevated him to Metropolitan of Androusis, again without a flock.

The charismatic professor of theology

In the interim, Anaastasios began a brilliant career as a Professor of Theology at Athens University, a post that he held for many decades.

During that period he published the his seminal work “Islam”, introducing Greeks to the faith of the Ottomans, with whom they co-existed for nearly four centuries, and yet modern Greeks knew very little if anything about the Muslim faith. The work, first published in 1975 has had 14 printings and is still taught at the School of Theology.

Commitment to missionary work

Anastasios was in his life committed to missionary work, in accordance with the admonition of the Gospel of Matthew:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

This he followed for years in a number of African countries, where he engaged in a number of charitable works.

His commitment to missionary work was reflected in the magazine “Porefthentes” which he founded and was published for a number of years.