FILE PHOTO: Archbishop of Tirana, Durres and All Albania Anastasios holds a mass at Resurrection of Christ Orthodox Cathedral in Tirana, Albania, April 29, 2018. REUTERS/Florion Goga/File Photo
ATHENS (Reuters) - Archbishop Anastasios, head of the Orthodox Church of Albania, died at a hospital in Athens at the age of 95 on Saturday, the church announced.
Anastasios played a key role in reviving the church in Albania, an independent branch of the Eastern Orthodox Church, after being elected to lead it in 1992 following the fall of the communist regime which had ruled the Muslim-majority country for decades.
Anastasios was admitted to a hospital in Tirana with flu in early December but his condition deteriorated and he was airlifted to Athens to be treated at Evangelismos Hospital.
"His Beatitude fell asleep in the Lord today... at Evangelismos Hospital in Athens, due to multiple organ failure," the Orthodox Church of Albania said in a press release.
A vocal supporter of dialogue among different religions, Anastasios had previously served as a missionary in several countries in Africa and was well known for his charitable work to help the poor and outcast in Albania.
(Reporting by Fatos Bytyci and Lefteris Papadimas; editing by Jason Neely)
