Archbishop of Albania to Ecumenical Patriarch: We have witnessed Your efforts for the unity of the Church

Archbishop Ioannis of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania paid tribute to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and his 65 years of ecclesiastical ministry during the Patriarchal Divine Liturgy celebrated on Imbros on Thursday, August 13, 2026.

In his address, Archbishop Ioannis expressed his “deep joy and sincere emotion” at being present in the Ecumenical Patriarch’s birthplace and concelebrating in the same church where Bartholomew was ordained a deacon exactly 65 years earlier, on August 13, 1961, by the late Metropolitan Meliton of Imbros and Tenedos.

The Archbishop noted that the gathering, just days before the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, allowed those present to share not only in the Patriarch’s joy but also in his profound longing to return to his native island.

From Imbros to the Ecumenical Throne

Drawing on Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad, Archbishop Ioannis reflected on the meaning of homecoming and the historic connection between Imbros and Tenedos.

“Longing for return, according to Homer, is not simply a memory, nor a passing nostalgia. It is a force that sets one’s entire being in motion,” he said.

Turning to the church where Patriarch Bartholomew received…