HCHC Alum Elevated to Archbishop of Albania

Archbishop John, a graduate of Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek School of Theology, was formally elevated to the position of Archbishop of Tirana-Durres and all Albania on March 16. His Beatitude has been serving as Locum Tenens since the passing into eternal life of Archbishop Anastasios earlier this year. Archbishop John had been serving as Metropolitan of Korce, a position he has held since 1998.

“The HCHC community rejoices at the elevation of Archbishop John to the primacy of the Albanian Church,” said President Dr. Demetrios S. Katos. “He is a hierarch of theological wisdom and deep faith. During his years of study and formation on this Holy Hill, he was an inspiration to his classmates and a source of spiritual strength.”

His Beatitude was born in 1956, one of eight children, in Tirana at a time when religion was forbidden by the Communist Albanian government. He was first introduced to the Gospel in 1974 by a high school friend who gifted him a copy of the New Testament – in French. Archbishop John’s journey to Orthodoxy began in a small, underground church where he was baptized in secret, fearing reprisal and possible death.

By 1990, he traveled abroad, first to Italy and then to the United States where he attended Holy Cross Greek School of Theology, graduating with a Master of Divinity degree. At that time, he made good on a promise to return to Albania where the need for clergy was significant. The late Archbishop Anastasios ordained him a priest in 1994 and a bishop in 1998. Among his many notable works as Metropolitan of Korce, Archbishop John led the restoration of the Resurrection of Christ Cathedral. Today, the cathedral is both an Orthodox church and a cultural center for Korce.