New Cathedral Consecrated in Tirana

Archbishop Anastasius (Yannoulatos) of the Albanian Orthodox Church has consecrated the new national Cathedral of the Resurrection in the Albanian capital, Tirana. The new cathedral is a symbol of the resurrection of the Church of Albania, whose institutions were completely destroyed by the Albanian Communist regime during the Cold War era. More in Romanian here.

The consecration took place as part of a celebration marking the 20th anniversary of the Albanian Orthodox Church's revival under Archbishop Anastasius. Archbishops Demetrius (Trakatellis) of New York of the Constantinopolitan Orthodox Church and Nicon (Liolin) of Boston and the Albanians of the American Orthodox Church participated in the celebration alongside the members of the Holy Synod of the Albanian Orthodox Church. More here.

Serb Men Marry Albanian Women

As tensions remain high between Serbian and Kosovar authorities an increasing number of men from the southern Serbian region of Raska have begun arranging marriages for themselves with women from neighboring Albania as the ongoing exodus from the Serbian countryside to the cities leaves men in rural areas with fewer marriage options. Roughly 1,000 marriages have already been contracted between the region's Serbian farmers and Albanian women while another 8,000 immigration applications for Albanian fiancees are currently being processed by the Serbian government. More here.

Tirana Mosque Design Announced

The winners of a contest to design a large central mosque and Islamic center for the Albanian capital, Tirana, have been announced. The winning design looks not so much like a mosque as a Space Age science center, but will nonetheless provide central Tirana with its third and final worship center for Albania's national faiths (Orthodox Christianity, Roman Catholicism, and Islam). More here.

Bulgaria Maintains Ties with Albania's Bulgarians

The Bulgarian government is seeking to strengthen ties with communities of Bulgarian Orthodox Christians and Muslims living in southeastern Albania. More here.

Turkish Economic Influence Grows in the Balkans

Growing Turkish economic influence is becoming a growing cause for concern in the Balkans, one no doubt not helped by statements from the Turkish foreign minister that, "The Ottoman centuries of the Balkans were success stories. Now we have to reinvent this...Turkey is back!” Many in the Balkans remember the centuries of religious and ethnic persecution (see here, here, and here) that followed the Ottoman Turkish conquest in a somewhat dimmer light and are consequently wary of renewed Turkish influence. More here.

Albania Establishes Fund for Religious Organizations

In its new budget the Albanian government has allocated the equivalent of €700,000 ($979,000) to help in the reconstruction of mosques and Orthodox Christian and Roman Catholic churches in the country and to pay clergy salaries. More here.

Greeks Self-Identify in Albania

There is a growing movement in southern Albania for its Greek minority to declare themselves as ethnic Greeks after years of suppression by the Albanian government. In the last month alone nearly 4,000 residents of the area have changed their registered ethnicity from Albanian to Greek. More here.

Debate in Albania Continues

Albanian Orthodox and Albanian Muslims remain united in their opposition to proposed legislation that would ban the wearing of religious symbols in public schools. During the Communist era that followed World War II in Eastern Europe the Albanian government was the most harshly anti-religious in the world, eventually completely liquidating formal religious structures and declaring Albania the world's first atheist country. Consequently Albania's religions are concerned that the proposed ban is just the first step back towards the outright oppression or ban of religion in the country. More here.

Albanian Orthodox Church Opposes New Education Law

The Albanian Orthodox Church has come out against a new law in Albania that would ban the wearing of religious symbols in educational institutions, saying it is a violation of teachers' and students' human rights. More here.

Illegal Organ Trafficking in Kosovo

Patriarch Irinej (Gavrilović) of the Serbian Orthodox Church has accused former UN and NATO officials in Kosovo of covering up the trade in human organs out of the region, which targeted Kosovo's non-Albanian minorities and took place with the collusion of elements in neighboring Albania. More here.