Athonite Archimandrite Shares Late Abp. Anastasios’ Concerns Over Ukrainian Church Issue
Memorial event highlights tensions in inter-Orthodox relations and claims of deepening schism.
ATHENS — New details about the late Archbishop of Albania, Anastasios (Yannoulatos), were disclosed during a memorial event held in his honor at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. The event was organized by the university and the Inter-Orthodox Center “Porefthentes.”
As reported by the Union of Orthodox Journalists' Anthonite bureau, among the speakers was the Athonite Archimandrite Theologos Chrysanthakopoulos, a close collaborator of the late archbishop in Albania. He spoke extensively about Anastasios’ restoration work in the country and his concern over what he described as a growing schism within global Orthodoxy linked to the issue of Ukrainian autocephaly.
Fr. Theologos recounted a final meeting with the archbishop in Tirana on Dec. 15, 2024, days before he fell ill. According to his account, His Beatitude expressed distress over what he termed a “fraternal war” from the Phanar directed at him because of his firm theological position on the Ukrainian question. He also reportedly lamented that he had not concelebrated with the Ecumenical Patriarch for six years and prayed for the restoration of unity.
This recollection can be found from 1:28:35 – 1:29:15 of the attached video.
It was asserted that the granting of autocephaly in Ukraine, rather than resolving divisions, had intensified tensions both within Ukraine and across the broader Orthodox world.
The UOJ has previously reported on letters addressed by Abp. Anastasios to Patr. Theodoros of Alexandria, in which he criticized actions of the Moscow Patriarchate after the creation of its exarchate in Africa as deepening the split in world Orthodoxy but warned against retaliatory tactics.
"Since the beginning of the crisis, we have pleaded and continue to plead for the convening of a Pan-Orthodox Synod to address all the issues that have arisen in Ukraine, in Africa, and indeed in the entire Orthodox Church worldwide," he wrote. In an interview in 2020, Abp. Anastasios also stated, “The initiatives in Ukraine, after two years already, obviously did not yield the desired therapeutic effect. Neither peace nor unity was achieved for the millions of Ukrainian Orthodox. Instead, controversy and division spread to other local Orthodox Churches."
In the years leading up to his repose, His Beatitude was harshly criticized by hierarchs of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and pro-Phanar journalists for refusing to recognize the Tomos of Autocephaly granted to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). One article even accused Abp. Anastasios of supporting the "Russian world" and said that at the end of his life he became "a plaything of the Russian Church."
"And unfortunately, there is no prospect of a return," the author concluded. "He will die unrepentant."
Notably, at his funeral in 2025, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew wept for his brother Abp. Anastasios, and said that he was, "indulgent, yielding where appropriate, unyielding where the interests of the church dictated, a diplomat of rare skill — he knew how to avoid friction, to heal wounds... to constitute the Church."
“A sad duty gathered us today in the Albanian capital," he exclaimed early in his eulogy. "The great pillar of the Orthodox Church in Albania has fallen."
Previously, the UOJ reported that Abp. John of Albania will deliver the keynote address at a conference dedicated to the life and legacy of Abp. Anastasios in the United States.
