Primate of Albanian Church visits St. Nicholas Church, Jamaica Estates, NY
Priest Nathan Preston and the faithful of Saint Nicholas Albanian Orthodox Church here were pleased to welcome His Beatitude, Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania, Primate of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania, and His Eminence, Metropolitan John of Korçës, on Sunday, January 26, 2014.
Archbishop Anastasios and Metropolitan John attended the Divine Liturgy and engaged in fellowship with the parish faithful at the conclusion of services.
“Though an unanticipated surprise, this visit was explained by His Beatitude as necessary, since on every journey one must stop first ‘to greet family and be at home in their company’ before continuing on to business,” said Father Nathan.
Today—Tuesday, January 28—Archbishop Anastasios will deliver the annual “Orthodoxy in America Lecture” at Fordham University, Bronx, NY, on the topic “Sharing the Good News in a Multi-Religious Country: Theological Reflections on Other Religions.” Fordham University also will confer upon His Beatitude an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters in conjunction with the lecture. Additional information on the lecture and conferral ceremony may be accessed here.
For decades, Archbishop Anastasios has been widely recognized for his outstanding missionary endeavors, especially in leading the resurrection of the Church in Albania after the fall of that nation’s “officially atheist” communist regime, during which all religious expression was brutally suppressed.