EDITOR’S NOTE (Nick Stamatakis). In the news report below, Athonite Archimandrite Theologos Chrysanthakopoulos, a close collaborator of the late archbishop in Albania, is mentioned. He spoke extensively about Anastasios’ restoration work in the country and his concern over what he described as a growing schism within global Orthodoxy linked to the issue of Ukrainian autocephaly. Helleniscope stood next to AB Anastasios as he was being attacked by the “parrots” of the EP in America (including the supposed “theologian” of TNH) and recorded his full of wisdom responses….

In early 2019, as the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople prepared to grant a tomos of autocephaly to a newly constituted Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana and All Albania (leader of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania) responded with principled objections to Patriarch Bartholomew’s actions. On January 14, 2019, he sent the first major letter to Bartholomew, later published in full by the Albanian Church, in which he refused to recognize the so-called “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” as constituted by Constantinople, and called for a Pan-Orthodox council to address the matter in order to prevent what he described as “the evident risk of a painful schism” in the Orthodox world. In that letter, the Albanian bishops expressed “a fundamental doubt about the potentiality of the ex post facto confirmation of ordinations, performed by an excommunicated, defrocked, and anathematized person” — specifically referring to ordinations by Filaret (Denysenko) as being “invalid, void, devoid of any divine grace and the energy of the Holy Spirit” unless clarified by genuine conciliar agreement.
Full text of the January 14, 2019 letter: (published English text) https://orthodoxalbania.org/2020/en/2019/03/14/the-concern-regarding-the-ukrainian-ecclesiastical-issue/

After Patriarch Bartholomew replied on February 20, 2019 defending the canonical basis for granting autocephaly and restoring bishops who had been in schism, Archbishop Anastasios issued a second letter dated March 21, 2019, in which he reiterated his concerns and responded point by point to Bartholomew’s arguments. In that reply, he emphasized that Constantinople’s actions had “failed to heal the divisions while creating a threat of dividing Universal Orthodoxy” and reiterated that the question of apostolic succession, the reception of clergy from schism, and the rights of a synodal, pan-Orthodox process must be addressed through a truly conciliar mechanism rather than unilateral decisions.
Full text of the March 21, 2019 reply: (published English text) https://mospat.ru/en/news/46498/

These two letters are often cited in discussions of the broader Orthodox dispute over Ukrainian autocephaly because they reflect a rare instance of an autocephalous primate openly questioning Constantinople’s approach, not by denying the right to grant autocephaly in principle, but by calling for canonical clarity, ecclesial conciliarity, and the avoidance of ecclesiastical fragmentation.

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source – uoj.news

Athonite Archimandrite Shares Late Abp. Anastasios’ Concerns Over Ukrainian Church Issue

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Abp. Anastasios of Albania. Photo: ocl.org

ATHENS — New details about the late Archbishop of Albania, Anastasios (Yannoulatos), were disclosed during a memorial event held in his honor at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. The event was organized by the university and the Inter-Orthodox Center “Porefthentes.”

As reported by the Union of Orthodox Journalists’ Athonite bureau, among the speakers was the Athonite Archimandrite Theologos Chrysanthakopoulos, a close collaborator of the late archbishop in Albania. He spoke extensively about Anastasios’ restoration work in the country and his concern over what he described as a growing schism within global Orthodoxy linked to the issue of Ukrainian autocephaly.

Fr. Theologos recounted a final meeting with the archbishop in Tirana on Dec. 15, 2024, days before he fell ill. According to his account, His Beatitude expressed distress over what he termed a “fraternal war” from the Phanar directed at him because of his firm theological position on the Ukrainian question. He also reportedly lamented that he had not concelebrated with the Ecumenical Patriarch for six years and prayed for the restoration of unity.

This recollection can be found from 1:28:35 – 1:29:15 of the attached video.

It was asserted that the granting of autocephaly in Ukraine, rather than resolving divisions, had intensified tensions both within Ukraine and across the broader Orthodox world.

The UOJ has previously reported on letters addressed by Abp. Anastasios to Patr. Theodoros of Alexandria, in which he criticized actions of the Moscow Patriarchate after the creation of its exarchate in Africa as deepening the split in world Orthodoxy but warned against retaliatory tactics.

“Since the beginning of the crisis, we have pleaded and continue to plead for the convening of a Pan-Orthodox Synod to address all the issues that have arisen in Ukraine, in Africa, and indeed in the entire Orthodox Church worldwide,” he wrote. In an interview in 2020, Abp. Anastasios also stated, “The initiatives in Ukraine, after two years already, obviously did not yield the desired therapeutic effect. Neither peace nor unity was achieved for the millions of Ukrainian Orthodox. Instead, controversy and division spread to other local Orthodox Churches.”

In the years leading up to his repose, His Beatitude was harshly criticized by hierarchs of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and pro-Phanar journalists for refusing to recognize the Tomos of Autocephaly granted to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). One article even accused Abp. Anastasios of supporting the “Russian world” and said that at the end of his life he became “a plaything of the Russian Church.”

“And unfortunately, there is no prospect of a return,” the author concluded. “He will die unrepentant.”

Notably, at his funeral in 2025, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew wept for his brother Abp. Anastasios, and said that he was, “indulgent, yielding where appropriate, unyielding where the interests of the church dictated, a diplomat of rare skill — he knew how to avoid friction, to heal wounds… to constitute the Church.”

“A sad duty gathered us today in the Albanian capital,” he exclaimed early in his eulogy. “The great pillar of the Orthodox Church in Albania has fallen.”

Previously, the UOJ reported that Abp. John of Albania will deliver the keynote address at a conference dedicated to the life and legacy of Abp. Anastasios in the United States.