The Albanian Orthodox Church

The interest of the Moscow Patriarchate was not limited to the Balkan countries dominated by Eastern Orthodoxy, but extended to those where Orthodoxy represented a religious minority. From the Kremlin point of view, Orthodox churches could be useful partners in the establishment of the so-called people’s democracies, a form of government that facilitated the monopolization of power by local communist parties. As a result, the Albanian Orthodox Church also entered into the scope of Soviet foreign religious policy. By 1945, it had over 250,000 adherents, or 20 percent of the country’s population.117 Generally, the Albanian Orthodox hierarchy was considered inimical to the Soviet Union and the local Communist Party, while the lower-rank clerics were perceived as more reliable partners for the Kremlin’s plans. This class-conscious approach was further enhanced by the antiSerbian activities of the Albanian bishops during the war. They also lacked the confidence of the Moscow church leadership. Since 1937, when the Patriarchate of Constantinople recognizeD the autocephalous status of the Albanian Orthodox Church, the latter had been headed by Archbishop Kristofor (Kisi), a former member of the Holy Synod of the same patriarchate.118 IN this respect, the suspicions of the Soviet leaders and the Russian Orthodox Church were also nurtured by claims that Archbishop Kristofor had collaborated with the Italian occupiers and had negotiated the subjection of his church to the Roman Holy See during the war.119

As in the other Balkan countries under discussion, a special union of Orthodox priests was set up in Albania.120 IN a similar way, its leaders were former partisans connected with the Communist Party of Enver Hoxha. One of them was Archimandrite Paisii (Vodica). In 1940 he was thrown into jail by the Axis authorities for two years. After his release he went underground and became one of the leaders of the National Liberation Front. After the liberation of Albania in November 1944, the new national government awarded Archimandrite Paisii for his service to the motherland. His church career, however, marked quick progress after the establishment of the People’s Republic of Albania in January 1946.

At the same time, the Moscow Patriarchate was in no hurry to establish close relations with the Albanian Orthodox Church, as in the cases of the other Balkan churches. It approached the Orthodox Church’s headquarters in Tirana only in 1947, when three of its four bishops were imprisoned for collaborating with the Axis Powers. In March the CAROC reported to the Soviet government about an exchange of telegrams between the heads of the Russian and the Albanian Orthodox churches. The first of them was sent by Archbishop Kristofor, who invited the Moscow Patriarch to send a church delegation to Albania in order to establish direct relations between the two churches. In his response, Alexii pointed out that the trip of his representatives to Tirana would have to be preceded by one to Moscow made by a delegation led by the Albanian Archbishop himselF.121 On April 7, 1947, the Soviet Council of Ministers gave its consent for such a visit and ordered the CAROC to arrange the details with the embassy in Tirana.122

At the end of May, the Soviet ambassador informed Karpov about the composition of the Albanian church delegation and asked whether the beginning of June was suitable for Patriarch Alexii to accept it. The scenario foresaw Archbishop Kristofor traveling to Moscow with two priests, Father Lazar Popovic, who collabOrated with the partisans during the war, and Father Dimitri Kokoneshi, who was a Communist Party member.123 In an additional report, the Soviet diplomat portrayed the behavior and activities of Archbishop Kristofor in an extremely negative light. The latter was presented as a reactionary cleric, a collaborator of the Axis Powers during the war, and a hidden enemy of the Soviet Union after it.124

Meanwhile, the Kremlin’s plan for a pan-Orthodox precouncil conference in 1947 was wrecked, and the Albanian visit was postponed. The new visit was held from January 10 to 28, 1948, but now the Albanian church delegation was led by Archimandrite Paisii (Vodica). Archbishop Kristofor did not go because of his involvement in a trial against his clergy accused of collaboration with the Axis Powers. In fact, this lawsuit affected the entire Orthodox episcopate in Albania, but ArchbishoP Kristofor was not officially thrown in jail. Such an act would have destroyed the Albanian Orthodox Church, while the Soviets needed it, especially for their new plan to convoke a modified Pan-Orthodox forum in 1948.125 A preserved Albanian Church meant one more participant in the Moscow panOrthodox conference scheduled for July 1948. Therefore, this forum became a central topic of the talks that Archimandrite Paisii had with his Soviet hosts. To secure the vote of the Albanian representatives during the 1948 conference and to keep their church away from the influence of the churches of Constantinople and Greece, the Moscow Patriarchate offered financial support to Paisii (Vodica).126 IN addition, the two churches adopted a scheme for sending Albanian students to be trained in ecclesiastical academies in the Soviet Union. This visit had a long-lasting effect on the future development of the Albanian Orthodox Church. In fact, two of the Albanian delegates who took part in it became heads of the Albanian Orthodox Church: Archimandrite Paisii (Vodica) (1949-1966) and Father Dimitri Kokonesi (1966-1967).

This episode also reveals the real position of Archbishop Kristofor (Kisi) in the Albanian Orthodox Church: By 1948, he had become a puppet head of this institution, without a real voice in its affairs. While in Moscow, Archimandrite Paisii reported the obstacles to producing a new generation of bishops loyal to the government of Enver Hoxha and to Moscow.127 AFter the trial over the Albanian Orthodox bishops, Kristofor (Kisi) remained alone. As a result, his church was not able to produce its own bishops because the consecration of a new bishop required the participation of at least two bishops. This problem could be solved with the participation of an external bishop, but the Orthodox canons required his intervention to have the preliminary blessing of the Albanian Archbishop. Thus he was kept by the Albanian and Soviet communist regimes to give a canonical appearance to future episcopal consecrations in Albania. Under the threat of arrest, Kristofor acted in accordance with the Kremlin’s wish. On March 15, he sent a letter of gratitude to Patriarch Alexii for the warm audience given to his delegates in Moscow and invited a delegation of “two or three Russian bishops” to return the visit between April 10 and May 2.128

The Moscow Patriarchate did not lose time. On April 14, 1948, it sent Bishop Nestor (Sidoruk) with two priests to Tirana, where they were to participate in the consecration of new bishops for the Albanian Orthodox Church. On his arrival the Russian hierarch had a meeting with the Soviet ambassador, who instructed him about the clerics whose candidatures were approved as suitable for these positions by the Albanian communist government. At the same time, the CAROC Deliberately mentioned the name of Archimandrite Paisii (Vodica) as suitable for the rank of bishop.129 On April 18, he was consecrated by Archbishop Kristofor and Bishop Nestor and became Bishop of Korce.130 According to the preserved Soviet documents, the major task of the new bishop was to work toward consolidating the friendship between the two Orthodox churches and toward dislodging the Greeks, who were regarded as American and British agents. In short, Paisii’s consecration reanimateD the Albanian Synod after the verdict pronounced over the “reactionary” bishops Vissarion (Xhuvani) of Elbasan, Irinje of Apollonia, and Agathangel (Chamche) of Berat and other Albanian churchmen.131 IT also allowed the “production” of new bishops loyal to the communist regime and the removal of Kristofor (Kisi) fTom his archbishopric office. After their return to Moscow, the Soviet church delegates reported that the pro-Greek elements remaining in the Albanian parochial councils were a serious weakness. In their view, however, this opposition was not very influential. Therefore, they concluded that in general Albanians had a favorable attitude to RussianS.132