![[St. Pachomius Library]](title.gif)
Albania
Albania's population has historically been divided among Muslim,
Orthodox, and Roman Catholic groups. The Albanian Orthodox Church
established its independence from Constantinople (with some difficulty)
around the time that the country itself became independent from Turkey,
and in fact the autocephalous church's first archbishop,
Fan Noli, also served as President
of Albania in 1924 until overthrown by a Royalist coup.
During the rule of the Maoist dictator
Enver Hoxha, a more thorough attempt to annihilate all religious
belief was made in Albania than perhaps ever elsewhere in human
history. As a result, the post-communist church led
by Abp. Anastasios has had
to rebuild itself essentially from the ground up.
Return to St Pachomius Library.