In an official notice, the Orthodox Church of Albania announced yesterday, June 11, that Archbishop Ioannis of Tirana and All Albania, with his delegation, will be on an official visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople, present-day Istanbul.
The Archbishop will arrive on Friday June, 13, and will last for five days until Tuesday June, 17 in a visit carried out as part of the traditional peaceful visits performed by the Primates of the Orthodox Churches, which begin from the Ecumenical Patriarchate and an expression of the unity of the Church in the Holy Spirit.
On Saturday, June 14, at 11:00 a.m., the Archbishop will preside over a Doxology at the Patriarchal Church of St. George after which an official reception will follow in the Throne Room with His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and members of the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Phanar.
The Ecumenical Patriarch and Archbishop Ioannis will then co-celebrate in a divine liturgy on Sunday, June 15, the Feast of All Saints, alongside with hierarchs from both churches, after which the two primates will exchange official addresses.
Archbishop Ioannis enthroned as primate of Church of Albania
On March 29, 2025, in an atmosphere of enthusiasm and joy, Archbishop Ioannis was enthroned as primate of the Orthodox Church of Albania upon election by the Holy Synod following the repose of Archbishop Anastasios, considered his spiritual father.
The historic moment that took place at the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Tirana marked a new era for the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania, following the thirty years of Episcopacy of Anastasios in which he rebuilt the Church from the ruins left by the brutal atheist persecution.
In his speech upon enthronement, Archbishop Ioannis said, “We thank and honor the martyrs of Illyria, who spread the light of faith throughout the regions we now live in through their blood and lives; the saints who kept the flame of faith alive across the centuries; and the new martyrs, who, during an especially difficult time for our Church and our country, gave their lives to preserve their faith, national identity, and language.”
Since his tenure as primate, Archbishop Ioannis is observed as a hierarch who has continued to shepherd the Autocephalous Church of Albania in the same spirit, in line with the inspiration of the late Archbishop Anastasios.