The Resurrection of the Church in Albania [Paperback]

Jim Forest (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2002 | ISBN-10: 2825413593 | ISBN-13: 978-2825413593

The church in Albania has, in the last decade, gone through dramatic changes with the fall of communism in Eastern Europe. Albania was the first officially atheist state in the world, and all forms of religious expression were suppressed after 1967. The Orthodox Church, the oldest and largest Christian community in Albania, has, since the fall of communism, been transformed from a repressed church into a vibrant, rapidly growing and inspired force for renewal and reconciliation in the country. This book presents fascinating historical background and an inspiring story of current church witness. The traditions and life of this fellowship, so clearly portrayed, will help educate the wider Christian community about Albania's diverse religious life and also the role religion can play as a potential force for both healing and peace in the Balkan region.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jim Forest, author and editor, has written a considerable number of books on the Orthodox Church and aspects of religious life, including Praying with Icons and Religion in the New Russia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: World Council of Churches (January 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 2825413593
• ISBN-13: 978-2825413593
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 7.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #423,304 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm a writer -- titles in print are listed on the Amazon site -- and also secretary of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship and editor of its quarterly journal, "In Communion". Since 1977, I have lived in Alkmaar, Holland, not far from Amsterdam. I grew up chiefly in Red Bank, New Jersey. I originally came to Holland to head the staff of a peace organization, the International Fellowship of Reconciliation. I am the father of six children, all grown up, and now the grandfather of five.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars out of the ashes in Europe's poorest country, August 18, 2003

By 

Jim Forest (Alkmaar Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Resurrection of the Church in Albania (Paperback)

As the book's author, it isn't for me to review "The Resurrection of the Church in Albania" but I can say something about what the reader will find. This is a portrait of a religious community that in the past 13 years has risen from the ashes in Europe's poorest country. While religious life in all its varieties had a hard time in each Communist country, only in Albania was every last place of worship closed -- in most cases destroyed. Nor was religious activity permitted even behind the curtains in one's own home. Just to make the sign of the cross or to dye eggs red at Easter could result in internal exile and slave labor. Thanks to the enthusiasm of the publisher, the World Council of Churches, text and photos are integrated on nearly every page. It is for the book's design that I give it five stars -- the text is for others to judge. All but a few chapters are profiles of individual people, young and old, clergy and laity. (...)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Their stories., November 7, 2004

By 

Moses Alexander (Alabama, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Resurrection of the Church in Albania (Paperback)

For some reason, over the past several years, I've become quite interested in Albania. This book is a collection of the stories of many Orthodox Christian individuals in Albania (both Albanian nationals and foreigners working there.) It is fascinating to see how the Orthodox Church in Albania is rising from the ashes of a country destroyed by years of communism and state sanctioned atheism.

Despite having only recently emerged from decades of brutal repression, these heart-warming stories of everyday Albanians as well as those of bishops and monks are encouraging. They show that good truly prevails over evil in due time.

While the content of the book focuses primarily on the spiritual dimension of the Orthodox Church, it also shows how the Orthodox in Albania are striving to improve the general well-being of the country for all people regardless of their religion. The founding of schools, environmental preservation agencies, public sanitation departments and health clinics shows that the Orthodox Church in Albania doesn't exist merely to serve her own, but to serve all in need and the country in general. The Church helped tens of thousands of refugees (mainly Muslim Kosovars) during the 1999 air attack of Serbia/Kosovo. Many international aid agencies said the Church sponsored refugee camps were some of the best run camps they'd ever seen.

After reading this book, I hope to visit Albania someday. And like the author, I give it five stars.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Resurrection is NOW, May 17, 2006

By 

Kerry Walters (Lewisburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Resurrection of the Church in Albania (Paperback)

I received this book as a gift from a friend (thank you, Terry!) last year, and was immediately captivated by it. I've just read it for the third time, and am even more impressed by it than after my first reading. It's a testament to the on-going resurrection, and it's also both a shock and inspiration to those of us in North America who are only nominally Christian.

Orthodoxy suffered greatly under the Communist regime of Enver Hoxha. Although the Albanian communist constitution of 1946 guaranteed religious freedom, Orthodoxy was severely persecuted for the next forty years, and especially after 1967's cultural revolution. By the end of Albanian communist rule in the early 1990s, only 22 Orthodox priests were alive in the country. Hundreds of churches and monasteries had been closed down, converted to secular buildings (such as movie theaters), or destroyed.

Despite the horrible destruction, the Orthodox faith remained alive. In the post-communist Albania, Orthodox Christians, who for an entire generation had worshipped secretly in catacomb churches, once again worshipped publicly. They're now rebuilding churches, schools, and seminaries. Greek-born Archbishop Anastasios, the shepherd of the Albanian Church, is ably leading his flock into the future.

Three features of this excellent, 5-star-plus book are worth pointing out. The first is that it's written by Jim Forest, an excellent American-born writer and author of a number of wonderful spiritual books. (Forest lives in Holland, and for years directed the European Fellowship of Reconciliation.) The second is that the book is comprised largely of interviews with Albanian Christians, laity as well as ordained, who recount what it was like to suffer through the Hoxha years, what sustained them, and what they hope, with God's help, to build for the future. The third is that the book is profusely and beautifully illustrated.

In reading the book, one is struck again and again by the deep Christian wisdom of the interviewees. They are all lovable and insightful, and they each leave the reader with something to think about for weeks. I offer here just a small sampling of their wisdom:

Elizabeta Xhokaxhi: "We suffered a lot when the churches were closed...There was a house in Tirana where a woman had icons. They found out and came for them. When they left, she went after them to say there was still one more icon. Then she made the sign of the cross on herself. 'I am the icon of the cross. Take me.' But they decided she was crazy, and so she wasn't arrested."

Metropolitan John Pelushi: "At the Last Judgment I will not be congratulated for my theological studies. I will be asked why I didn't help a certain old woman... If we fail to respond to those who suffer, we turn our back on Christ."

Raimonda Shqeva: "Just be a Christian and try to live the gospel. When people say we give too much, I think that at the Last Judgment no one will be condemned for giving too much or for forgiving too much."

Father Luke Veronis: "To follow God means going where God calls you, no matter what the sacrifice, and that's where you will find the greatest peace. This is what's lacking in our comfortable western Christianity. We don't like the Gospel message, 'Sacrifice everything!' We should never forget that the majority of saints lived lives of struggle, persecution and self-denial, not of comfort and a pursuit of pleasure."

Archbishop Anastasios: "We pray 'for those who hate us and for those who love us.' Thus we cannot have enemies. How could we? If others want to see us as enemies, it is their choice, but we do not consider others as enemies."

Thanks be to God for such clarity and charity!