The Will of the Late Albanian Archbishop Anastasius

Author: Ivan Dimitrov

Very often people prepare a will, with which they express their last will on certain issues – ideological, spiritual, material. This is also done by many of the primates of churches, as well as hierarchs. These wills are very rarely announced publicly. The will of the late Archbishop of Tirana and All Albania Anastasius (Yanulatos), who died on January 25, 2025, was published on the website of the Holy Synod of the Albanian Archdiocese immediately after the passing of forty days from the death of the eminent, very deserving and therefore very beloved primate. As can be seen, it was written twenty-eight years ago, and was corrected ten years ago. We are publishing it in translation from its Greek original.

Testament of Archbishop Anastasios (Yanulatos) of Tirana and All Albania

Blessed be Your name, Lord! With deep gratitude I reflect on the years I have spent on this earth, on this amazing spaceship, bound for infinity. Thank you, Most Holy Trinity, for revealing to me that infinity means love, that is, You. And You have called me from my childhood to active participation in the adventure of Your love, by deserving me with the joy of the sacraments of the Church – to live as one cell in the mystical Body of Christ, which is the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. Thank you, because despite my spiritual poverty and weakness, You have accepted me to serve people across different geographical and social boundaries, contemplating the mystery of the Cross and the Resurrection, often “in much tribulation, but with the joy of the Holy Spirit” (1 Thess. 1:6).

I also thank from the bottom of my soul my late parents, teachers, bishops, clergy who supported me on my spiritual path; my dear relatives in the flesh or in spirit – brothers, sisters, collaborators in the sacred mission, my former students, my beloved African brothers and, finally – the chosen people of God, the Church of Albania, for their heartfelt love and devotion.

By the grace of God, I have no real or movable property. Everything that I have acquired over time has been given away for the works of Christian charity. The monetary deposits in my name as Archbishop belong to the Albanian Church. I ask the executors of my will that half of the amount of these deposits be allocated for the completion of the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Tirana, and that the other half be left for appropriate investment, with the income from the investment being allocated to support the salaries of the clergy and for the youth programs of the Albanian Church.

I ask that the royalties from the sale of my books be transferred to the benefit of the Inter-Orthodox Center “Go and Teach All Nations”.

As executors of this will I appoint my successor-archbishop and the chief secretary of the Holy Synod, Bishop Nathanael of Amanti. The above should take care to distribute the few things that I used, in memory of my faithful collaborators, who selflessly accompanied me and served the Church together with me.

My books should be donated to the library of the Archdiocese and to the library of the Orthodox Theological Academy “Resurrection of Christ”. Also, some of them should be symbolically given to the other three metropolitanates. All books that are in Athens should be donated to the library of “Go and Teach All Nations”.

During my life, serving in various church positions and in other international organizations, I have certainly grieved many due to weakness or bias. In this sacred hour of separation, I ask for their forgiveness and from the depths of my soul I forgive all those who, consciously or unconsciously, with injustices, intrigues and slanders, made my path difficult and painful.

I have tried with my meager strength to serve to open the horizons of contemporary Orthodox in our apostolic ecumenical responsibility in Greece, in Africa, in the international church arena and especially since 1991, when I dedicated myself to the restoration of the tormented Church of Albania, which I loved with all my soul. If anything substantial has been achieved, it belongs to the grace of God.

And now, my brothers, co-workers, my beloved spiritual children in Albania, in Greece, in East Africa and in other parts of the world, “my joy and crown” (Phil. 4:1), I bid you farewell, wishing you the best I can: “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:14-19).

I also beg you not to cease praying that God will have mercy on me, His sinful and unworthy servant, and will receive me repentant into the immensity of His love. “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Eph. 3:20-21).

The least among the bishops

† Anastasius of Tyranno

Tirana, March 10, 1997

Corrected on June 24, 2015

Short address of this publication in Bulgarian: https://dveri.bg/dc63h