Divine Dispatch 📫: 24 - 30 January, 2025
● The passing of Archbishop Anastasios ● Romanian church has reservations about common Easter date with Catholics ● Met. Anthony meets John X of Antioch
Welcome to Divine Dispatch, an expertly curated newsletter that tracks the pulse of church geopolitics weekly.
Sadly, this week's developments are largely centred around the passing of Archbishop Anastasios, the leader of the Albanian Orthodox Church, who leaves behind a significant legacy. He played a pivotal role in restoring the Church, which had been severely neglected under the Enver Hoxha regime. Initially appointed as exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1991, he was elected Primate of the Albanian Orthodox Church the following year.
Another important story is the one of the Romanian church being the first Orthodox church to break the silence on the common Easter date proposal- a proposal that Pope Francis and the Ecumenical Patriarch have been working on.
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📌 Let’s begin 3,2,1
1. 🇦🇱 🇬🇷 Archbishop Anastasios, the leader of the Albanian Orthodox Church, has died in Athens. The 95-year-old Primate was first hospitalised in Tirana and then transferred to Athens as his health condition deteriorated. The funeral takes place today (Thursday, 30 January) in Tirana. The next phase promises to be intriguing, with Athens likely to seek to impact the election of a new Primate.
2. 🇪🇪 Estonian authorities are determined to make the Estonian Orthodox Church cut ties with Moscow. The government already adopted a draft bill which is expected to reach Parliament by the end of the month (tomorrow). The Estonian Orthodox Church stated it violates religious freedoms.
3. 🇸🇾 🇷🇺 Last week, I brought you the news that the Russian church was carefully reaching out to the Antioch church after the fall of Assad. The initial meeting took place on 13 January with the ROC representative, which served as a preparatory meeting. Patriarch of Antioch – John X, met with a large ROC delegation headed by Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk on 25 January in Lebanon.
⮑ Paul Goble considers that the Antioch Patriarch will be replaced due to his pro-Russia alliance and support for Assad.
4. 🇷🇴 The first cracks of the plan for agreeing on joint Easter celebrations between the Catholics and the Orthodox become apparent as the Romanian Orthodox Church is the first of the Orthodox churches to share its reservations. Firstly published by Sinopsis, the Romanian church has called for an Orthodox synaxis (pan-Orthodox gathering) to discuss the proposal – something unlikely to occur very soon.
5. 🇧🇬 Bulgarian Patriarch Daniil is further cementing his role in Bulgarian society as the saga with the registration of the Bulgarian Orthodox Old Calendar church continues. A Bulgarian Orthodox Church delegation met with the acting Prosecutor General of Bulgaria, Borislav Sarafov and deputy prosecutors. Mr Sarafov expressed his support for BOC as the “singular, undivided, and unique Orthodox Church in the country,” as reported by Orthodox Times.
6. 🇷🇺 Novaya Gazeta published a text about the life stories of several Russian Orthodox Church priests who challenged Patriarch Kirill’s support of Putin’s war in Ukraine. Their only alternative seems to be “switching teams” and serving under the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
7. 🇷🇺 The Russian Foreign Ministry is preparing a report on Russian Orthodox persecution in Ukraine (Ukrainian Orthodox Church). The MFA considers the attacks on the Russian church to be part of “Western Russophobia”.
“Russophobes feel a particular hatred and animosity towards canonical Orthodoxy in Ukraine, thereby exposing their true nature.”
8. 🇦🇱 More details emerge for Edi Rama’s plan to create a Vatican-style micro-state for Albania’s Bektashi community. It will be "without walls, without police, without an army, without taxes or other attributes, but a headquarters, a spiritual state,” said Albania’s PM Edi Rama.
9. 🇷🇸🇲🇰 A Serbian Church and state delegation from Serbia, Montenegro, and Republika Srpska (BiH) celebrated St. Sava Day in Skopje, North Macedonia. The day is considered a national holiday for the Serbian community in North Macedonia. Among those present were Serbian Patriarch Porfirije and Archbishop Stefan of the Macedonian Orthodox Church (OA). The event was also used by Milorad Dodik, President of Republika Srpska, to spread pro-Putin messages and justify his stance on Ukraine.
10. 🇺🇦 New sociological survey results were published by Ukraine’s Razumkov centre. Further dip in the number of UOC-MP believers and stagnation of the growth of OCU supporters.
📌 Longer reads:
Dr. John Chryssavgis - Archbishop Anastasios Obituary (read here)
📌 My latest articles:
This month, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine marked the sixth anniversary of its autocephaly, granted in 2019. Despite the ongoing war, the number of Orthodox Churches recognising its validity remains unchanged at four.
Most Orthodox Churches have adopted a “wait and see” approach, holding off on recognition until the war’s outcome becomes clearer.
I explore this further in my feature article for The Tablet.
⮑ Left in the cold, by Andreja Bogdanovski (read it here)
📌 Most viewed story from last week’s newsletter:
The most popular news item from last week’s newsletter was about Young Republican co-chair Catherine Whiteford, who, after President Trump’s inauguration, declared that “retribution is coming” for those persecuting Orthodox faithful in Ukraine.
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Many thanks,
Andreja