Easter Message/ Archbishop Joan: The Peace of the Risen Christ in a Turbulent World

2026-04-11 09:45:00, Aktualitet CNA

Easter Message/ Archbishop Joan: The Peace of the Risen Christ in a Turbulent

The Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania, Joan, has conveyed his message for Easter.

In his message, Archbishop Joan emphasizes the importance of the peace of Christ in a world filled with conflict, uncertainty, and spiritual crisis.

Archbishop Joan underlines that today's world is facing not only wars and violence, but also a deep spiritual crisis, characterized by indifference and departure from faith.

His Beatitude John instructs that true peace is not the absence of problems, but the presence of God in the midst of them.

Referring to Christ's sacrifice on the cross, Archbishop Joan says that forgiveness and love are more powerful than hatred and revenge, calling this the greatest victory in history.

Archbishop Joan also brought to attention the experience of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania, which survived persecution and was reborn after decades of religious prohibition during the communist regime.

Archbishop Joan called on believers to be peacemakers in daily life, starting with inner peace, and to spread the message of Christ's Resurrection as a source of hope and life for the entire world.

Message from the Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania, Joan

THE PEACE OF THE RISEN CHRIST IN A TURBED WORLD

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Let us dwell on the first words spoken by the Risen Christ when he appeared to his disciples. He did not say to them “victory,” nor “glory,” nor “power,” but said to them: “Peace be with you” (Jn. 20:19). He entered the room where they were locked up in fear and gave them what the world can never give: peace that does not depend on conditions, on geopolitical balances, on human agreements, but the peace of God that surpasses all understanding (Phil. 4:7), a deep spiritual peace that comes first from man’s reconciliation with God and then extends to all people.

Today the world is in turmoil. Bloody wars continue to cause death and suffering. The fear of tomorrow covers entire peoples. Insecurity knocks everywhere. In the midst of this storm, the Risen Christ repeats: “Peace be with you.” This is not simply a wish of social courtesy, but an ontological reality. Death has been defeated. And if death has been defeated, then what can disturb us anymore? The peace of Christ is not the absence of problems; it is the presence of God within problems. On the Cross of Golgotha, Christ faced all the passions of humanity. Greed for money betrayed him through Judas. Envy handed him over to Pilate. The fearful and corrupt power condemned him. Pride mocked him. Hatred nailed him to the Cross. All the passions exploded upon him with fury, as if the world wanted to kill God himself.

And yet, on the Cross, precisely where evil thought it had triumphed, Christ did not seek revenge. He cried out: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). With these words, he did not simply defeat death. He defeated the vicious circle of evil. He defeated the logic of revenge that fuels every war, every hatred, every dark conflict in history. The Resurrection proves that love is stronger than death; that forgiveness destroys evil, while revenge multiplies it. The Risen Christ did not come to punish his crucifiers. He came to save and reconcile them. And this is the greatest victory in history.

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In the time we live in, we are faced with a new form of death: the numbness of indifference; the hardening of the heart; the spiritual withering of a society that has forgotten God, not because it was forbidden, but because it chose to ignore Him. The clash of invisible convictions continues to destroy visible lives. “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world - Christ tells us - and loses his own soul?” (Mt. 16:26). These words are more relevant than ever. We live in an era where man relentlessly pursues material goods, security, social status, and yet feels more empty, more lonely, unfulfilled, more restless than ever.

While the Resurrection reveals to us a great truth: whoever has Christ in his heart lacks nothing. And not only spiritually. The Lord who took care to feed five thousand people with five loaves of bread, the Lord who turned water into wine, the Lord who said “seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you” (Mt. 6:33), this Lord does not leave His children without the necessary things. He takes care of both the body and the soul; He gives both bread and peace. Fullness is not found in the accumulation of wealth, but in the connection with the Creator. Only in him can we find peace, because only he is our peace (Eph. 2:14).

We know what Resurrection means. Not just theoretically, but from lived experience. Our Orthodox Church went through its own Golgotha. For decades they tried to annihilate every trace of faith. Churches were destroyed, clergy were martyred, the word “God” was banned. The Church seemed dead, buried in a sealed tomb. And yet, she was resurrected. The stone was rolled away. Faith blossomed again from the ruins. Churches were rebuilt. Communities were recreated. This was not human achievement, it was the power of the Risen Christ at work within history.

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The Church calls again for Resurrection - this time for the Resurrection of every soul. The Risen Christ stands before us today, as he stood before Thomas, and shows us his wounds. He does not hide them. He does not remove them. He keeps them forever upon himself, as an eternal witness of love. These wounds say: “I loved you so much that I accepted the most severe pain for you.” Every person, every soul, is so unique, so unrepeatable, that God would come even if it were only for one person.

Dear brothers and sisters! In this troubled world, only one certainty is enough for us: Christ is risen and lives. And if Christ lives, we live too. And if we live in Christ, then neither death, nor evil, nor poverty, nor persecution can separate us from His love and peace. The day of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ - writes Saint John Gojarti - is the foundation of peace. For from the Resurrection of Christ comes the Peace of God. The Resurrection and the Peace of God is not an abstract dogma, but a personal calling.

Let us, then, respond to the call: “Peace be with you” with our whole lives. Let us ourselves become peacemakers in a world that is being destroyed by hatred, greed and selfishness. But to become peacemakers, we must first have peace within ourselves. Make peace in your heart - says St. Seraphim of Sarov - and thousands of people around you will be saved. For there is no peace where evil is, but only where God is present. Let us find this peace of God in our hearts and then spread it everywhere, together with the joyful news that Christ is Risen and has given the world life and eternal peace.

With love in the Risen Lord,

+ Joan

Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania./ CNA