Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania

Orthodox Autocephalous Church Of Albania

The Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania (Albanian: Kisha Ortodokse Autoqefale e Shqipërisë) is one of the newest autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches. It declared its autocephaly in 1922, and gained recognition from the Patriarch of Constantinople in 1937.

The church suffered during the Second World War, and in the communist period that followed, especially after 1967 when Albania was declared an atheist state, and no public or private expression of religion was allowed.

The church has, however, seen a revival since religious freedom was restored in 1991, with more than 250 churches rebuilt or restored, and more than 100 clergy being ordained. It has 909 parishes spread all around Albania, and around 500,000 faithful.

Read more about Orthodox Autocephalous Church Of Albania:  Administration and Holy Synod, History, Revival of The Church, Demographics, Gallery

Famous quotes containing the words orthodox and/or church:

    The gloomy theology of the orthodox—the Calvinists—I do not, I cannot believe. Many of the notions—nay, most of the notions—which orthodox people have of the divinity of the Bible, I disbelieve. I am so nearly infidel in all my views, that too, in spite of my wishes, that none but the most liberal doctrines can command my assent.
    Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)

    Jesus: Senor, the widow Gomez delivered a son this morning, a boy.
    Guthrie McCabe: Bully for the widow Gomez.
    Jesus: But Senor, it has been more than a year ago since Senor Antonio Gomez has been buried in the church house.
    McCabe: Well, there’s some men y’a just can’t trust to stay where you put ‘em.
    Frank S. Nugent (1908–1965)