The Orthodox Church of Albania continues to play an important role in promoting peace, mutual understanding and moral values in society, despite a difficult historical legacy and ongoing modern challenges, Archbishop John of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania has said.

In an interview with Albania’s state broadcaster RTSH, the archbishop recalled that the Albanian Orthodox Church endured some of the harshest religious persecutions in 20th-century Europe and was effectively rebuilt from scratch after the fall of the communist regime.

According to Archbishop John, the decisive role in the revival of church life was played by his predecessor, Archbishop Anastasios, who took leadership of the Church in the early 1990s.

“The revival of the Church did not begin with stones, but with the hearts of people. It was, above all, a spiritual process,” the archbishop said. He noted that in the first years after communism there was a severe shortage of churches, clergy and even basic resources, but the faith and dedication of priests and lay believers made it possible to preserve and develop church life.

Archbishop John reminded viewers that under the rule of Enver Hoxha Albania was officially declared an atheist state. Churches and monasteries were destroyed or repurposed, clergy were repressed, and any form of religious practice was outlawed. By the early 1990s, only a handful of elderly priests remained in the country.

Today, the Church’s main mission, he said, is to pass on Gospel values in what he described as a “deformed society” shaped by decades of ideological pressure. “This mission is possible only through love and unity. The Church will always strive to be a factor of peace and understanding,” he added.

Orthodoxy has been present in the territory of modern-day Albania since the earliest centuries of Christianity, but in the 20th century the Church came close to extinction. Its restoration after 1991 became one of the most striking examples of religious revival in post-socialist Europe.

For more than two decades, Albania had been officially atheist, with all places of worship closed or destroyed, religious services banned under threat of criminal prosecution, and religious tradition interrupted for two generations. At the time, only about 15 elderly Orthodox priests survived, with no diocesan structure or theological schools in place.

The appointment of Metropolitan Anastasios as Patriarchal Exarch in 1991 marked the starting point of renewal. Public worship resumed, catechesis began, new clergy were trained, and church institutions were rebuilt. In the years that followed, a seminary and dioceses were established, the Holy Synod was restored, and a new generation of Albanian clergy was ordained. The Church also became actively involved in social and humanitarian work, helping it regain public trust and secure a visible role in the country’s public life.