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Orthodox Church
Assists Kosovo Refugees in Albania
The Orthodox Autocephalous Church of
Albania, through its social, developmental, and emergency office of Diaconia
Agapes, completed distribution of new winter clothing to 6270 children,
mostly refugees in Albania who have fled violence in Kosovo. This first
phase of its emergency program was achieved on December 22, 1998.
A second phase of helping more than 1050
refugee women with winter clothing was completed in January 1999. After an
appeal to the ecumenical family by His Beatitude Anastasios, Archbishop of
Tirana, Durres and All Albania, more than $275,000 was secured for the first
phase of the project. Supported by and working in close cooperation with the
ACT (Action by Churches Together) Network of the World Council of Churches,
the Diaconia Agapes office established a six-person emergency staff to
implement the emergency program. International Orthodox Christian Charities
(IOCC) of North America has also assisted in this effort.
Over the past year, approximately 20,500
Kosovo refugees have arrived in Albania. The Diaconia Agapes office created
a program to deliver new winter clothing and boots directly to the Kosovo
refugee children daily from November 4 – December 23. The first phase
focused on children ranging between the ages of 4-15 years old. Each child
received a parcel consisting of a warm winter jacket, a pair of winter
boots, socks, trousers, shirt and underwear. Along with distributing 5860
clothing sets to refugee children, 222 sets were donated to Albanian
orphanages and handicapped institutions, and 188 sets were given to poor
local children.
By October 1998, the majority of
Kosovo refugees had left northeastern Albania in an attempt to escape the
oncoming winter in the mountainous regions. Working under difficult
conditions due to the lack of security on the roads, the emergency team
needed to travel thousands of kilometers throughout Albania to reach the
Kosovo refugees in 26 different villages and cities. Despite major efforts,
they were unable to reach certain refugee families who remained in the
northern Bajram Curri district.
The Orthodox Church also found ways
to work together with other relief organizations in offering aid to those in
need. The emergency team helped distribute food, beds, blankets hygiene
products and stoves provided by the Catholic Relief Service, as well as
packaged and delivered 7.5 metric tons of second-hand clothing items
provided by Christian Aid to refugee families. In accordance with the
Orthodox Church’s policy on emergency and developmental work, all aid was
given to people regardless of their race or religion.
Christmas
and Epiphany Celebrated Joyously in Albania
Tens of
thousands of Orthodox faithful celebrated the feasts of Christmas and
Epiphany throughout Albania. Archbishop Anastasios led the observance of the
early morning Christmas Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral of the Annunciation
in Tirana. For the day of Epiphany, the archbishop traveled to the southern
city of Saranda, where thousands of people came to the newly built Church of
St. Harallambos and participated in the annual procession to the sea, where
the archbishop blessed the waters.
For the occasion of Christmas, local
and national political and religious leaders offered their greetings and
best wishes for the Orthodox community of Albania. In Tirana, the President
of Albania, His Excellency Rexhep Meidani, and Prime Minister Pandeli Majko
led a host of political representatives from all the different parties,
including the leader of the opposition ex-president Sali Berisha, in giving
greetings to Archbishop Anastasios and all Orthodox believers.
Representatives from the Muslim, Bektashi, Roman Catholic and Protestant
religious communities also came to offer best wishes.
For the first time in the cities of
Berat and Korça, the new Metropolitans Ignati and John celebrated these two
great feasts in their respective cathedrals. Following the religious
observances, they both received local political and religious
representatives who offered their greetings.
International
Co-Workers Assist the Church of Albania
During 1998, several long-serving
international missionaries left Albania for their homes, and the community
of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania expresses their gratitude
for their faithful service. Fr. Martin and Renee Ritsi, with their two
children Nicole and Stephanos, returned to the United States after serving
in Albania for six and a half years. They were one of the first missionaries
who began working with Archbishop Anastasios, when the Church of Albania was
resurrected in 1992. Fr. Martin helped to establish the emergency and
developmental office of the Orthodox Church of Albania – Diaconia Agapes, to
organize the finance office of the church, as well as taught at the
Resurrection of Christ Theological Academy, worked with the Tirana youth
movement, and helped in the overall administration of the Church. Renee
worked with the Tirana Women’s Group and the Medical Clinic. Previously,
they had served for three and a half years under Archbishop Anastasios in
Kenya. Fr. Martin has returned to America to take over the position of
director for the Orthodox Christian Mission Center in St. Augustine,
Florida.
Dr. Peter Gilbert, also an American,
returned to the States after acquiring a teaching position at St. John’s
College in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Dr. Gilbert had been teaching Patristics
and Old Testament at the Resurrection of Christ Theological Academy in St.
Vlash-Durres for three years.
Elekiah Kihali, a theologian from Kenya and
a spiritual child of Archbishop Anastasios from the time he served as acting
archbishop of East Africa, returned to his homeland to teach at the
Archbishop Makarios III Patriarchal Seminary in Nairobi, Kenya. He was
teaching Canon Law and Preaching for the past year and a half at the
Theological Academy along with Dr. Gilbert.
Three young nurses from the Red Cross of
Greece, Demetra Vergi, Sophia Karathanasi and Lena Tsitsou, also finished a
one year term of helping in the Church’s medical clinics of Kavaja and
Tirana, as well as giving first aid classes to different groups. When they
departed, three other nurses arrived to help in the Church’s overall medical
mission.
Georgia Mari, another young woman from
Greece, finished serving one and a half years working with the catechism
program and youth group, as well as helping in Church administration.
Tirana Youth
Reach Out to the Needy
Orthodox youth and
university students of Tirana have been responding to Christ’s call to care
for those in need for the past three years in a variety of ways. As a part
of their Christian responsibility, every Sunday they visit Tirana’s School
for the Blind, as well as occasionally visit the local old age home,
orphanage, and various hospitals. This year, an average of 20 students,
divided into two groups, spend an hour and a half each week with the 40
resident blind children who range in age from 6-15. This year, they received
permission from the director of the school to take the children on
excursions around the city. A new part of these excursions, which began at
the beginning of the new year, includes attendance at the Sunday Divine
Liturgy in the Cathedral of the Annunciation. The children look forward to
receiving the Archbishop’s blessing, and being warmly welcomed by the
faithful of Tirana. Special funds have allowed the students to furnish the
School for the Blind with special equipment, including radios, cassette
players, and educational toys.
Another occasional outreach of the students
is visiting the old age home, orphanage, and local hospitals of Tirana.
Here, they take treats, as well as reading material. After any visit, each
student is committed to praying for any and all patients they encounter
every week.
A new project of the youth in the
beginning of February was raising awareness for the need of blood donation
in Tirana. A representative of the Tirana Blood Bank spoke to more than 60
university students, as well as the 55 seminarians at the Resurrection of
Christ Theological Academy, explaining the desperate situation of the Blood
Bank. In 1990, more than 13,000 people donated blood. In 1997, only
1500 gave blood, even though during this same time period the population of
Tirana has exploded from 350,000 to 700,000 inhabitants. A positive result
of this project was that 55 students donated blood.
Church
Studio Paints and Restores Icons
It begins with a
faint image engraved on a blackened piece of wood. After careful and
specialized cleaning, the image becomes clearer. The artist carefully
applies his painting skills with a unique restoration technique and the
damaged piece of artwork slowly transforms into a beautiful, restored icon.
Three years ago, Archbishop Anastasios
blessed the opening of an icon studio for the Orthodox Autocephalous Church
of Albania. Icon restoration is only one part of the studio’s work.
Josif Çano, an Albanian iconographer and an
active member of the Church’s student group "Sons of Light," serves as the
overseer of the icon studio. He helps organize the three main functions of
the studio: 1) providing a studio for Albanian artists to prepare icons and
mosaics for the churches, 2) teaching icon painting lessons, and 3) offering
restoration classes.
Dr. Mihail Larenzakis, a specialist in
restoration and conservation of icons and ancient painting, has come to
Albania four times. He offers intensive two-week theoretical and practical
classes to 15 students. The objective of the ongoing course is to develop a
group of artists who can restore and conserve many of the Church’s old and
destroyed icons and frescos. At present, the government has returned more
than 500 icons in need of restoration. Future plans include work at the
historical Monastery of the Virgin Mary at Ardenica and the Monastery of St.
Kosma, Kolokondis.
Çano first began offering icon lessons at
the Orthodox youth center three years ago. He continues to offer classes
daily at the icon studio, where up to ten students may attend. The course
include lessons in drawing, designing, and preparing icon paints and wood.
In addition to Cano, the Church employs three other full-time artists
currently working on special projects. These include the painting of icons
for the iconostas (icon screen) of churches in Durres, Rrushkull, and Shen
Vlash, as well as mosaic floor designs for two other churches. Future plans
include a wall mosaic of the Annunciation for the cathedral in Tirana.
Funds supporting the icon studio come
from the Archdiocese. The icon studio, however, plans to become self-
sufficient as it sells icons on request. In March, the studio has plans to
relocate into a new and larger Church facility located in Kombinat, a suburb
of Tirana.
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