"Walking among graves": will the OCU use the death of the Primate of the Albanian Orthodox Church?

The Primate of the Albanian Orthodox Church, Archbishop Anastasios, died. It is safe to say that his death is an irreparable loss not only for the Orthodox Christians of Albania and the world, but also for Ukraine, because the First Hierarch was consistent in his attitude to the Ukrainian church crisis. He did not care about the pressure from Patriarch Bartholomew to recognize the OCU. Moreover, he was one of the few who directly pointed out to the head of Phanar that he had made a big mistake by creating the OCU.

At the same time, Greek church resources publish condolences from the heads of the Local Churches in connection with the death of Archbishop Anastasios, and, oddly enough, among them there is a “requiem” from Epiphany Dumenko. The very same Dumenko whom the Primate of the Albanian Orthodox Church did not consider as a church figure of equal rank and dignity.

Given the fact that the Albanian Church is still somewhat dependent on the Patriarchate of Constantinople, it is most likely that Patriarch Bartholomew will perform the funeral service for Archbishop Anastasios. And something tells us that the situation that took place in Bulgaria after the death of Patriarch Neophytos, when the head of Phanar gave the go-ahead for the arrival of the OCU delegation, will be repeated. Moreover, we have no doubt about it. The OCU will arrange a conditional “walk among the graves” and use this excuse for another attempt to legitimize and formalize its own subjectivity.

It is also worth noting that we know too little about the Albanian Orthodox Church. This “dark spot” on the map of world Orthodoxy has always been associated with only one person — Archbishop Anastasios. What will the bishops of the Albanian Church do now? Who will be its next Primate? Will the hierarchs of the AOC continue to adhere to the line of Archbishop Anastasios regarding the Ukrainian church crisis? We will have to look for answers to all these questions as they come, but something tells us that they simply will not. The small and unknown Orthodox Albania now finds itself in the center of attention of the large Orthodox world.