The body of Archbishop Anastasios of Albania will remain at the Metropolis of Athens until this morning at 10 a.m. for public veneration.

On Sunday morning (26/1), the body of the late Archbishop Anastasios arrived at the Cathedral of Athens, where public veneration began with a large turnout of citizens, despite the massive protests in downtown Athens in remembrance of the Tempi train disaster.

According to reports from the MEGA television network, worshippers from various parts of Greece came to honor the clergyman, whose life was dedicated to service and solidarity with fellow human beings.

A memorial service followed, officiated by Archbishop Ieronymos, in the presence of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, PASOK President Nikos Androulakis, and President of the Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

The remains of the late archbishop will arrive in Tirana on Tuesday afternoon where they will lie in state until the funeral and burial service in Albania on Thursday.

Archbishop Anastasios, head of the Orthodox Church of Albania, died at a hospital in Athens at the age of 95 on Saturday after a battle with the flu.

Anastasios played a key role in reviving the church in Albania, an independent branch of the Eastern Orthodox Church, after being elected to lead it in 1992 following the fall of the communist regime which had ruled the Muslim-majority country for decades.

Politicians on Saturday praised Archbishop Anastasios’s contributions to Orthodoxy, his commitment to peace and understanding, his academic and theological writings, and his service to communities in need.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed condolences, highlighting the Archbishop’s invaluable prominence as an Orthodox cleric: “His contribution to Orthodoxy is invaluable, with his stamp remaining indelible not only in our neighboring country but in every corner of the earth where Hellenism lives and breathes.”