Historic Mass at the Ecumenical Patriarchate/ Message of His Beatitude John: Faith is not imposed, but earned

2025-06-15 11:24:00, Aktualitet CNA

Historic Mass at the Ecumenical Patriarchate/ Message of His Beatitude John:

The Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës and all Albania, His Beatitude Joan, celebrated Mass in Albanian at the historic Mass held at the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul.

His Beatitude, Joan, recalled the rebirth of the Albanian Orthodox Church after the dark period of atheism.

The Archbishop said that after decades of atheism, the church experienced a wonderful renaissance, with young people seeking Christ without having inherited the faith.

His Beatitude expressed that one should speak not only the language of every people, but also the language of every era.

Referring to the period of atheism, His Beatitude John stated that although the trunks were cut down, the roots were still alive and the priests who experienced atheism have a great zeal to spread the Gospel.

" How can we convey the eternal message of the Gospel to people who seem indifferent? We seek to meet man where he is, not where he should be, according to the model of the Lord who was crucified for humanity."

Our church, after decades of atheism, experienced a wonderful renaissance. Young people who had not inherited the faith from their parents came to seek Christ.

Faith is not imposed, but earned. We must speak not only the language of every people, but also the language of every era.

We learned that a humble way of life attracts more than a show of strength. Priests who experienced atheism have a great zeal to spread the Gospel because they know what it means to live without Christ.

In this great challenge of evangelization, we understood and felt that although the trunks had been cut, the roots were still alive.

The fall of the atheist regime paved the way for the rebirth of the church. The situation was critical.

The work that has been done in these 3 decades is impressive. From nothing, the Church of Albania was created physically and spiritually. Let us speak the language of contemporaries without betraying the eternal mission , "said the Archbishop. / CNA