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[[Image:AnastasiosOfAlbania.jpg|right|frame|Abp. Anastasios of Albania]]
His Beatitude '''Anastasios (Yannoulatos), Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania''' is the current [[primate]] of the [[Church of Albania]]. Besides being a prolific writer, Anastasios is known for his [[missionary ]] initiatives in East Africa and critical leadership in the resurrection of the Albanian church in the 20th century after it was decimated by the Communist regime.
==Life==
Following his national service and his recognizing a desire to be part of the spirit renewal on-going in Greece, Anastasios joined a religious brotherhood [[Brotherhood of Theologians Zoe|ZOE]] where he became a leader in making the Orthodox faith real in student movements and teenage camps. Later, he participated in the international Orthodox youth movement Syndesmos, becoming its general secretary from 1958 to 1961 and then vice-president from 1964 to 1978. In 1960, he was [[ordination|ordained]] a [[deacon]], beginning his career in the [[Holy Orders]].
After receiving his diaconate, Dn. Anastasios formed the inter-Orthodox mission center "Porefthentes" with the aim of educating the church in the area of [[missions]]. On [[May 24]], 1964, Dn. Anastasios was ordained a [[priest]] and left for East Africa to celebrate his first [[Divine Liturgy|liturgy]] in [[Archdiocese of Kampala and All Uganda|Uganda]]. However, soon Fr. Anastasios came down with malaria and had to return to Greece. With the doctors recommending his not returning to Africa, Fr. Anastasios decided to influence the church about the work of [[mission ]] through the academic world.
In preparation, Fr. Anastasios turned to postgraduate studies in history of religion including ethnology, science of religions, missiology and African studies. In this pursuit, he studied at universities in Hamburg and Marburg, with research work at the Makerere University in Uganda to collect material for his doctoral thesis "The Spirit Mbandwa and the Framework of Their Cults: A Research of Aspects of African Religion".
In 1868, the efforts of Fr. Anastasios and his Porefthentes staff bore fruit in the Bureau of External Missions within the [[Apostoliki Diakonia]] of the [[Church of Greece]], the official publishing house and [[missionary ]] arm of the Church of Greece that was active in many fields, including Orthodox mission. In 1972, he was [[consecration of a bishop|consecrated]] the [[Titular bishop|titular Bishop]] of Androussa in his position as general director of [[Apostoliki Diakonia]]. Also in 1972, Bp. Anastasios was elected by the University of Athens professor of History of Religions having established a center for [[missionary]] studies during 1971 to 1976 at the university.
Furthering his work in missions, Bp. Anastasios, with Fr. Anthony Romeos, founded a [[monastery]] of [[nun]]s, the Convent of St. [[John the Forerunner]], in Kareas, Greece, that would participate in [[missionary ]] work throughout the world.
In 1980, Bp. Anastasios was asked by Patriarch [[Nicholas VI of Alexandria|Nicholas]] of the [[Church of Alexandria]] to take on reinvigorating the Archdiocese of East Africa. In addition to his responsibilities at the University of Athens and with the Apostoliki Diakonia, Bp. Anastasios consented. As acting archbishop during this transitional period, Abp. Anastasios worked to create a strong Orthodox community through training and establishing indigenous leaders. In 1982, he re-opened the [[Orthodox Patriarchal Ecclesiastical School of Makarios III|Orthodox seminary]] in Nairobi that Abp. [[Makarios III (Mouskos) of Cyprus|Makarios III of Cyprus]] had founded ten years before but remained incomplete because of political instability in Cyprus. Over the next ten years Abp. Anastasios ordained sixty two indigenous priests and deacons and forty-two [[reader]]s and catechists from the graduates of the [[seminary]]. These [[clergy]] provided the foundation for the renewal of the church in East Africa. By the time he departed Africa in 1991, he left a legacy through his efforts to assimilate with the indigenous Christians and empower them to embrace Orthodoxy as their own.
In 1991, following the fall of the communist government of Albania and the ensuing political changes, Abp. Anastasios was appointed by the Ecumenical Patriarch [[Bartholomew I (Archontonis) of Constantinople|Bartholomew I]] to be the Patriarchal [[Exarch]] for the Albanian Church with the mandate to re-establish the Autocephalous [[Church of Albania]] without regard to the ethnic origin of its people. He was named Archbishop of Tirana on [[June 24]], 1992 and [[enthronement|enthroned]] on [[August 2]], 1992. For this challenge, Abp. Anastasios drew on his academic work and field accomplishments in East Africa to establish the structure to train local leaders. Under his leadership, the church opened a seminary with more than eighty students and within two years increased the Albanian [[clergy]] from eleven to fifty six.
==See also==
* [[Missionary]]
* [[Missiology]]
==Bibliography==
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==SourceSources==
*[http://www.orthodoxalbania.org/English/Archbishop/ArchbishopFrm.htm Official biography] from the Church of Albania website
*[http://religion.wikia.com/wiki/Anastasios_Yannoulatos Anastasios Yannoulatos]
==External links==
*[https://missions.hchc.edu/missions/articles/articles/a-candle-before-the-icon-archbishop-anastasios "A Candle Before the Icon: Archbishop Anastasios"] by Jim Forest
*[http://www.albanianorthodox.com Albanian Orthodox Library]
*[http://orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/resources/hierarchs/albania/current.htm#anastasios_arch_tirana Listing] at the Orthodox Research Institute
