His Holiness Patriarch Kirill sends congratulations to Archbishop Joani of Tirana and All Albania on his enthronement

DECR Communication Service, 29/03/2025

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ sent congratulations to Archbishop Joani of Tirana and All Albania on his enthronement.

His Beatitude JOANI
Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania

Your Beatitude,
Beloved in the Lord Brother and Concelebrant at God’s Altar,

On the day of your accession to the Throne of Their Beatitudes the Archbishops of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania, please accept my warm fraternal greetings and best wishes.

Whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it (1 Cor 12:26). True to these words of the Holy Scripture, the Russian Orthodox Church in its plenitude rejoices with its beloved Sister – the Albanian Orthodox Church – on this day of glorious celebration which marks the enthronement of its newly elected Primate.

Keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph 4:3) and having one body, and one Spirit (Eph 4:4), our two Local Churches have born each other’s burdens (cf. Gal 6:2) since olden times, sharing each other’s joys and sorrows. In the times of dreadful atheistic persecutions, they both suffered the most severe afflictions and hardships, having in many respects the similar historical experience of both martyrdom and confession within the constraints of unfreedom, and of the remarkable all-round revival of church life after the fall of the theomachist regimes. By the mercy of God, we endured all that together, supporting each other by our fraternal prayers and comforted together with you by the mutual faith (Rom 1:12).

Today the world Orthodoxy is facing new challenges, some of them as dangerous as those of the past. The contemporary secular world strives to force religion out of public space, belittle religious beliefs, undermine the importance of spiritual and moral values and destroy the idea of tradition as the system of passing down these values from generation to generation. I believe that in these trying circumstances our sisterly Churches will carry on their close cooperation, bearing a joint witness before the outside world to the imperishable Gospel truths and proclaiming the truth of God. I also hope that under your Primatial leadership, the Most Holy Albanian Church will continue to contribute substantially to upholding the Orthodox unity, protecting with zeal the purity of the salvific Christian faith and the unshakeable canonical foundations of the Church, as it did successfully under your great predecessor of blessed memory – His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios.

Once again, I warmly congratulate Your Beatitude on your enthronement and wholeheartedly wish you good health and blessed help from God in the demanding and responsible service that lies ahead of you. Through the intercession of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos, the Holy Glorious Apostles Paul, Titus and Caesar, the Holy Hieromartyr Astius the Bishop of Dyrrhachium, Saint Cosmas the Aetolian, Equal of the Apostles, and all the heavenly patrons of the ancient Albanian land, may the All-Generous Lord grant you strength and wisdom in your Primatial labours.

With brotherly love in Christ Jesus,

+KIRILL
PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUS’

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His Holiness Patriarch Kirill sends congratulations to Archbishop Joani of Tirana and All Albania on his enthronement

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