Elegji per Nolin - Ose buzeqeshja e vrerosur e IMZOTIT

[D&G Feminine]

Dicka me shume nga intervista ne fjale e Janullatos:


TWO FACES OF BISHOP YANNULATOS

Greek Bishop Yannulatos is at this writing a controversial figure in
Albania as the primate of the Autocephalus Orthodox Church of
Albania. There are two facets of the Bishop that might shed light
on and explain why he is controversial.

The following text appeared in the Greek-American weekly, The
Hellenic Chronicle, on Thursday, December 12, 1996:

Athens. Archbishop of Tirana and all Albania Anastasios visited
Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis recently, saying afterwards
that the Premier is particularly interested in relations in the Balkans
and promotion of cooperation and friendly communication among
Balkan countries. Anastasios said he has been in Albania for some
five and a half years to restore the Autocephalus Orthodox Church
of Albania and to promote friendship, cooperation and mutual
understanding. "Consequently" he added, "the exchange of views
and opinions in such a climate is always useful''. Asked whether
relations with the Tirana government have been improved, the
archbishop sad "there is a course of improvement in relations".

Bishop Yannulatos is indeed the official Archbishop of
Albania, but he is not an Albanian national or citizen. If the
Archbishop of Albania were an Albanian national and a citizen of
Albania this type of meeting could never have happened. The late
Albanian Archbishop K. Kisi (prior to the Communist regime)
never met with the Greek premier or any other premier outside
Albania during his whole tenure as the Primate of the Autocephalus
Orthodox Church of Albania. In the past few months Bishop
Yannulatos has met twice with Premier Simitis and at least once
with the Greek Foreign Minister Pangalos. It is critical to note,
however, that Bishop Yannulatos, as a Greek national and citizen
could not and cannot represent Albanian interests with any foreign
power.

Bishop Yannulatos is not content with the support he gets
from the Greek Ecumenical Patriarch in Istanbul (See Illyria,
September, 16-18, 1996) and from other religious institutions. For
reasons best known to himself, Bishop Yannulatos needs to enlist
the support of the Greek government in order to shore up his shaky
status in Albania. It seems that Bishop Yannulatos is attempting to
inject his agenda into the foreign policy of the Greek government.
However, both Premier Simitis and Foreign Minister Pangalos
know that it is in Greece's best interest to collaborate with the
countries of the South Balkans in the development of democratic
processes, to participate in their economic development by
supporting Greek investment and businesses in the region and
eventually lead those countries into the European Union. Also, they
know that religion in Albania, as in Greece and elsewhere, is
entirely an internal Albanian matter not subject to intervention by
an outside government. Premier Simitis and Foreign Minister
Pangalos both know that the Greek government is the single most
important factor and player in maintaining the peace in the South
Balkan region. Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Serbia simply do
not have the wherewithal both economically and militarily to cause
any serious upheaval in the area.

I submit that the enlightened leaders of Greece do know that
Bishop Yannulatos is the temporary leader of the Orthodox Church
in Albania because the statutes of the Albanian Church require that
the Primate be an Albanian national as well as a citizen of Albania.

Furthermore, for the theologically minded, it is noted that the
continued presence of Bishop Yannulatos in Albania is in violation
of Canon 34 of the Eastern Orthodox Church which requires that
the bishops and the leaders of the Orthodox faithful be indigenous
to the country where the church is located.

In the early 90's there was the excuse that no Albanian
Bishop lived to lead the Church. Today, there are at least two
Albanian candidates:

Arqimandrit Theofan Koja
Arqimandrit Joan Pelushi

Yet, Bishop Yannulatos is still waiting for the other three Greek
Bishops that the Ecumenical Patriarchate would send him, except
for the refusal of the Albanian government.

However, in order to better understand the behavior of the
bishop it is necessary to look at the other face of Bishop
Yannulatos, the one who gave an interview to author Fred A. Reed,
as quoted in his book Salonica Terminus (Talonbooks, 1996) about
the religious situation in Albania. In pages 118 through 120 of the
book the following passages are found:

Hoxha wanted uniformity, domination. He claimed he was an
internationalist but what he really did was to build up "AIbanicity".
. . The problem, the reverend hints darkly, lowering his voice
further still to a whisper, as the television cackles in the
background, is that key agencies of the Albanian government are in
the hands of what he terms "Muslim Fundamentalists" who see the
Orthodox community as a tough nut which must be cracked.
[According to Yannulatos] "There are powerful anti-orthodox
forces who want to strengthen Muslim communities. They want to
establish the first Islamic republic in Europe right here, a greater
Albania which would include Kosova and a part of Macedonia.
Clearly there is Turkish influence at work here as well. People in
the West have to understand that Islam is essentially a political
religion".

Thus, Bishop Yannulatos is not content with the support he
may have received from Greek Premier Costas Simitis and now
wants to enlist the support of the whole West for his untenable
position. He wants us to believe that Albanian nationalism
(Albanicity?) and fundamental Islamism will take over Christian
Europe if Bishop Yannulatos is not allowed to continue to reign
over the Albanian Orthodox Church.

I suggest that the West be leery of Bishop Yannulatos. The
face he shows with the friendly words one reads in the Hellenic
Chronicle are a cover for his real face of fanatical and bigoted
beliefs he harbors against all other religions in Albania.

I find it preposterous that he would accuse President Sali
Berisha of supporting Islamic fundamentalism in general and
particularly in Albania. This same accusation has been aimed
against President Berisha by Nicholas Gage, head of the
Panepirotic Society in America, and no friend of Albania.

Yannulatos' "people in the West" should know that since
1992 when Bishop Yannulatos was installed as Archbishop of
Albania, there has never been a single word uttered nor written by
any legitimate organization or a serious individual against the
Orthodox Church in Albania. All uttered words and written
material have addressed the person of Bishop Yannulatos having
been installed as Archbishop inappropriately in 1992 even though
initially, in 1991, the Albanians were hopeful when he arrived in
Albania as a temporary exarch of the Patriarchate, and with the
approval of Ramiz Alia, then President of Albania. (Cultural
Survival Quarter/y, Summer, 1995, p. 63)

"The People in the West" know that the Albanians in Kosova
have never made a single claim to Islamic fundamentalism for their
aspirations to be a free people from Serbian suppression. Bishop
Yannulatos would be the first prominent individual to blemish the
clear record of peaceful resistance by the Albanians in Kosova led
by President Ibrahim Rugova.

I personally regret that Bishop Yannulatos made such
statements to Fred A. Reed. I was born a Moslem and grew up in
the Orthodox quarter of Uzgur in Berat. My home was next door to
the Orthodox Cathedral. We children, orthodox and Moslem,
played and studied together. I enjoyed the colorful Easter eggs and
the ceremonial sweet wheat. Bishop Yannulatos' remarks belie the
memories of my youth which sustained me through 45 years of
exile in the United States.

None of us wants another Bosnia in Albania. However, we
may not be complacent with the historical past of the Albanians
who have shown generosity of spirit and friendly understanding in
matters of religion. Instead, we should heed the findings of
Professor Michael P. Scharf which indicates that "the violence in
Bosnia was not the product of unstoppable historic forces as some
have suggested. . . The ethnic hatred that emerged in 1992 was
engineered, not innate". (Boston Sunday Globe, December 1. 1996)

The statements made by the Bishop tend to be "luring out
humanity's dark side" [Scharf] in Albania. Bishop Yannulatos and
his cohorts are undermining the fiber of Albanian society which
could lead in the future to religious/ethnic strife. Surely this is not
the vision of the future for Albania and the European Union.

In a diplomatic setting, Bishop Yannulatos' behavior would
have given cause to the host country to declare him persona non
grata. However, whether Bishop Yannulatos stays in Albania or
goes back to Greece, he owes an apology to President Berisha, an
apology to the Albanian government and an apology to the
Albanian people in Albania and the diaspora.

Wayland, Massachusetts
December. 1996
Sejfi Protopapa

[vloonjat]

NQS kjo eshte e vertete, turp i madh sa s'ka ku te veje. Me kete veprim Kisha Shqiptare ne Boston (ST.GEORGE CATHEDRAL) eshte njelloj sikur te peshtyje mbi varrin e Fan Nolit dhe mbi fytyrat e gjithe Shqiptareve kudo qe jane, sidomos atyre ne Amerike.
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Marre nga Balkanweb.com me 8.3.2008

BalkanWeb.com URL: http://balkanweb.com/index.php?id=17568

Katedralja e Shën Gjergjit, Noli dhe Janullatusi


(Dërguar më: 08/03/08)

Këtë të diel në Boston, për tërë shqiptarët dhe veçanërisht për ata të besimit të krishterë ka një festë, një kremtim, një përshpirtje me emrin e të nderuarit, Imzot Nolit. 100-vjetori i krijimit të Katedrales së Shën Gjergjit nga shqiptari Theofan Stilian Noli.
Ceremonia do të fillojë me një meshë në këtë katedrale e do të vazhdojë me një drekë në lokalin aq të njohur, PIER 4. Dëshiroja të shkoja. Fillova të interesohesha. Dhe zbulova.
Janullatosi, dora vetë, do të jetë i pranishëm. U zëmërova. E lashë fare. Ç’punë ka Janullatosi me Nolin? Ç’punë kam unë me Janullatosin? Pse duhet të ha drekë me të? Unë kam punë me Nolin dhe për të mendova të shkoj fillimisht. Ta nderoj. T’i çmoj mesazhin që na ka lënë. Atë të pastërtin shqiptar. Noli vetë, do të pranonte që në përshpirtjen e tij të ishte Janullatosi? Do ia jepte dorën sikur të ishte gjallë? Ky është një reagim, që më tepër sesa fetar është i pastër shqiptarçe. Pyeta prapë. Më siguruan se Janullatosi do jetë. Më thanë se shumë veta kanë anuluar prenotimet. Nuk dua të jem pjesë e asnjë grupi, por mesa duket, qenia e Janullatosit në këto kremtime e paska krijuar tashme përçarjen. Shumë vetë e kanë marrë vesh me vonesë prezencën e tij. Organizatorët kanë tre muaj që e mbajnë të fshehur dhe pranuan më së fundi, se e kanë ftuar ata Janullatosin grek në kremtimin e panshqiptarit NOLI. S’kanë asnjë detyrim për ta bërë këtë, madje as ndërvarje hierarkike mes katedrales së shqiptarëve në Boston dhe Kishës Autoqefale në Shqipëri. Janë thjesht motra…Apo Shemra??? Por të dielën e kësaj jave, në Boston simboli fetar i festës zbehet, për t’i lënë vend Nolit shqiptar. Të cilin, Janullatosi nuk e pranon si figurë të Kishës Autoqefale Shqiptare. Madje dhe portretin e tij e ka hequr nga muret. Ndoshta ka të drejtë. Sepse Noli më shumë se sa Imzot, ishte politikan, shkrimtar, udhëheqës, opinionist, krijues. E megjithatë, Janullatosi do të jetë. 100 vjet pasi Noli fitoi aq mundimshëm pavarësinë e një kishe shqiptare drejtuesit aktuale të saj, ftojnë grekun Janullatos. Përdhosje ??? Nuk e di. Por mua më kujtohet Odisea i lashtë dhelpër dhe krijimi i tij djallëzor, Kali i Trojës. Një kalë Troje modern, që nuk pranon të bëjë përshpirtje fetare për viktimat çame të genocidit grek, por e politizon qenien e vet duke mëshiruar çështjen politike të Qipros Veriore. Një kalë Troje që ka ngulur këmbët e veta në fshatin Kosinë dhe zhvarros të vdekurit e lashtë.
Më vjen keq që si besimtar ortodoks nuk gjej fuqinë, por as nuk dëshiroj që t’i drejtohem Janullatosit me titujt që ka, personalisht nuk e njoh si rregullator të marrëdhënieve të mia me ZOTIN. Me vjen shumëfish keq, që si shqiptar të pranoj ngjitjen me dhunë të dy portreteve të kundërta deri në përbuzje ndaj njëra tjetrës. E imagjinoj Imzot Nolin, të kthehet përmbys në varr-do të thoshte një bashkëkombëse e nderuar kur do të merrte vesh se kush do të nderohej për 100 vjetorin Nolian. Fytyrën e tij e kam parasysh tashmë me vetulla të ngrysura, një rrudhë më shumë dhe një nënqeshje të vrerosur në cep të buzëve të lodhura. Vështrimi i syve të tij pyet-Edhe këtë ma bëtë???
Asgjë më shumë se ky varg i madhërishëm i Imzot Nolit nuk do e përshkruante më mirë gjendjen shpirtërore të tij, nëse do të ishte gjallë e do të merrte pjesë në 100-vjetorin e themelimit të Katedrales së Shën Gjergjit në Boston. Shenja që fuqishëm e kërkon Imzoti po vjen, veçse në krahun e kundërt…
Boston
(marrë nga peshkupauje)

[vloonjat]

Kush kerkon qe ta kontaktoje kishen Shqiptare ne Boston dhe te shprehe indinjaten kunder kesaj paturpesie dhe akti anti-shqiptar, anti kombetar, mund ta kontaktoje kishen si me poshte:

ALBANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN AMERICA
ST.GEORGE CATHEDRAL
Address: 523 East Broadway South Boston , MA 02127-4415
Phone: (617) 268-1275 Fax: (617) 268-3184 Email: albboschurch@juno.com


Gjithashtu, mbeshtes idene qe ne si forum te bejme nje peticion te perbashket. Mirepres idete tuaja. Sa me shpejt te jete e mundur.

[TOKE GEGA]

Po e neneshkruaj peticion !

[Xhuxhumaku]

shqiptare te Bostonit, ju lutem cojani kete veper te Nolit, Liolinit, se ku i dihet ndofta ndergjegjesohet.


Fan Noli - Memorandum on Albania - 1918


The following memorandum was sent to U. S. President Wilson and Secretary of State Lansing a few days before a delegation of Albanian-Americans left for France to take part in the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. Copies of the memorandum were sent to the foreign ministries of the Allied Powers and their ambassadors in Washington. The aim of the text and of the delegation was to ensure the continued recognition of Albania as a sovereign state. Many of the idealized views expressed in this memorandum, signed by leading clergymen of the Albanian Orthodox Churches of America, among whom Fan Noli (1882-1965) of Boston, can still be heard among Albanians today.
Albania's titles to independence are sealed with the blood of her sons shed in their long struggles for the defence of their fatherland and the preservation of their race from prehistoric times to the present day. They are based on history as well as on actual occupation, on justice and humanity as well as on necessity for permanent peace in the Balkans, on international agreements as well as on the inalienable right of self-determination, and furthermore on valuable services rendered to civilisation by the Albanian race, which justify its claims to a fair chance to develop its genius for the benefit of the human race.
The land extending from Dulcigno to Preveza on the eastern shore of the Adriatic sea and covering the old Turkish vilayets of Scutari, Kossovo, Janina and the western part of Monastir, is occupied by a compact and homogenous population of more than 2,500,000 Albanians, speaking the same language and solidly united in their determination to become an independent nation. The Albanians, the most ancient race of Europe, have been there from time immemorial long before the Greeks and the Slavs had come into the Balkan Peninsula. They are the direct descendants of the old Illyrians, Macedonians, and Epirotes, and their language is the only living specimen of the tongues spoken by the aboriginal Aryan settlers of Southeastern Europe. They are a distinct race with distinct national characteristics, customs and traditions.
Their survival after centuries of epic struggles against the recurring hosts of invaders speaks well for their virility and tenacity in defending their national patrimony. Placed on one of the most coveted spots of Europe, they had to repel one invasion after another and became by the force of circumstances a nation of fighters par excellence. With their back on their bleak crags they fought against the overwhelming armies of the Romans, the Goths, the Venetians, the Slavs, and the Turks, voiceless through the centuries, with hardly an armistice, with no friend or disinterested protector, and somehow managed to emerge unbroken and unassimilated upon the stage of twentieth century Europe. They refused to bow to any conqueror, although their numbers were decimated by age-long wars and their territory, once covering the whole Balkan Peninsula and the whole eastern shore of the Adriatic, dwindled to what is known today as Albania. Under Alexander the Great, they smashed the Persian empire and conquered the East, under Pyrrhus they defeated the proud legions of Rome, under Scanderbeg they humbled the greatest Sultans of Turkey. Of all the Balkan nations, they were the last to surrender to the Turk but never acknowledged his rule and never bowed to him. While all the other Balkan races were utterly crushed, the Albanians under the leadership of the semi-independent Bushatlis of Scutari, and Ali Pasha Tepelen of Janina, still defied the Turk early in the nineteenth century.
The neighboring Balkan races were liberated one after the other by their European protectors, while the Albanians were invariably abandoned to the mercy of the Turks. The treaty of Berlin not only denied them independence but started the first partition of Albania by ceding Plava and Gusinia to Montenegro, Nish and Vrania to Serbia, and part of South Albania up to Kalama river to Greece. An independent Albania did not suit Germany and Austria at the time because it would have formed a barrier for the Drang nach Osten of Germany and the descent of Austria to Salonica. The appeals and protests of the Albanian League of Prizren, organized for the defense of the national territory were disregarded. Turkey was ordered to compel the Albanians to submit to the decisions of German-led Europe and an international fleet was sent to the Adriatic to enforce them. It was the most cowardly act ever recorded in the annals of modern history. The Albanians defied both Turkey and Europe and succeeded in modifying the stipulations of the Berlin treaty. The Greek frontier had to stop at Arta, the Montenegrins renounced the highlands of Plava and Gusinia, contenting themselves with the ports of Antivari and Dulcigno, which the Albanians could not defend against an international fleet, while the Serbians occupied the districts of Vrania and Nish with the assistance of a Turkish army which came to crush the forces of the Albanian League. Lord Fitzmaurice and Lord Goschen in 1880 advised the British government to erect an independent Albanian State, comprising the four Turkish vilayets of Scutari, Kossovo, Monastir and Janina, as the only just solution of the Balkan tangle but the other Powers opposed their suggestions and the Turks were left free to settle the Albanian question by force of arms. The Albanian League was dissolved, its leaders sent to prison or to exile.
The savage persecutions that followed are well-known to students of Balkan affairs. Albanian schools, Albanian societies, any printed matter in Albanian were prohibited under severe penalties. Albanian leaders and teachers were sent to jail or to exile without any trial. The Greek Patriarchate and the Greek bishops of Albania allied themselves with the Turkish government and terrorised the Albanians through Greek bandits imported from Greece and through solemnly stupid excommunications of the Albanian language and of all those participating in the movement for national regeneration. The use of the Albanian language in the church was strictly forbidden. Father Christo Negovani and Father Stathi Melani were murdered by Greek assassins under the most revolting circumstances for preaching in Albanian; other priests, excommunicated, or forced to leave the country. The only school where Albanian could be taught was the American school for girls at Koritza. But the spirit of the Albanians could not be broken. In 1908 the Albanians joined the Young Turks and compelled Sultan Abdul Hamid to grant a constitution and later on to abdicate. But when they saw that the Young Turks were worse than the Old Turks, they rose against them in 1910, 1911 and 1912, defeated their armies single-handed in Kossovo, and compelled them to grant autonomy to Albania. The success of the Albanian revolutions encouraged the Balkan states to attack and defeat Turkey in 1912. The Albanians declared their independence at Vallona on November 28 of the same year but that did not save them from invasion by the Balkan allies, who occupied all Albania except Vallona and claimed to partition the country among themselves.
The London Conference of 1913, which was called upon to settle the territorial disputes arising out of the Balkan wars, guaranteed the independence and neutrality of Albania, which was placed under the joint protection of the Great Powers of Europe. The delimitation of the frontiers of the new state was in reality a second partition, which was the more revolting in view of the important part played by the Albanians in bringing about the collapse of Turkey. Two thirds of the national Albanian territory with more than 1,500,000 Albanians were cut off and distributed to the neighboring states: the highlands of Hoti, Gruda, Plava and Gusinia and the cities of Ipek and Jakova went to Montenegro; Serbia obtained the province of Kossovo with the cities of Prizren, Uskup, Mitrovitza, Prishtina, Dibra, Struga and Okhrida; Greece extended her frontier beyond the Kalama river, thus annexing the province of Chameria with its seacoast from Preveza to the canal of Corfu. But the Greeks and the Serbians, having annexed, wanted to annex more and practically destroyed the Albanian state by their unprovoked aggressions. The Greeks refused to evacuate the districts of Koritza and Argirocastro, or Northern Epirus as they call it, which were assigned to the Albanian state by the London Conference. They continued their occupation by means of lawless bands which terrorised, massacred and devastated those Albanian regions from 1912 to 1916, until they were expelled by the French and Italian armies. When Prince William was starved out of Durazzo on September 1914, the Serbs and the Montenegrins reoccupied Central and North Albania and vied with the Greeks in exterminating the Albanians. They were driven out in their turn by the Austrians under whose occupation the Albanians starved by thousands from 1915 to 1918. Finally Albania was liberated by the Franco-Italian armies after Austria collapsed and surrendered. Thousands of Albanian volunteers fought in the ranks of the Franco-Italian armies against the Austro-Germans.
It is difficult to say how many Albanians survived this unparalleled series of invasions and counter-invasions, the systematic massacres of their Balkan neighbours, the blockade, the war diseases and the ruthless Austro-German requisitions. But what frightens the Albanians most is the danger of a third and final partition and enslavement as advocated by Serbia and Greece. Such an injustice is unthinkable after a war of liberation fought for the rights of small nationalities and the sacredness of international covenants. Albania is a small friendly nation and her independence was guaranteed by a solemn international treaty in 1913, which was reasserted by the French at Koritza on December 1916 and by the Italians on June 1917. Moreover, the partition of Albania, beside being cowardly, would also prove a dangerous folly, which will further complicate the Balkan embroglio and sow the seeds of another war in the near future, as it is impossible to satisfy the parties concerned. On the other hand, the Albanians, as their history shows, will never submit to a foreign rule and will certainly not fail to avail themselves of the rivalries of their oppressors in order to regain their independence. It is therefore in the interest of peace, as well as of justice, humanity and international morality that all secret bargains concluded under the stress and storm of military exigencies should be disregarded now that Prussianism has been crushed beyond recovery.
America and the Allies who have pledged themselves to the noble principles expounded by President Wilson are bound in honor to do justice to the ancient Illyrian race which has survived the bloody tyranny of the Turk. In accordance with these principles, the political and economic independence of Albania must be restored and guaranteed against future aggressions, by America and her Allies. The boundaries of the Albanian state must be rectified so as to include all territories purely or predominantly Albanian, carved off by Prussian tactics in the past, such as the seaport of Dulcigno, the highlands of Hoti, Gruda, Plava, Gusinia, the province of Kossovo with the cities and districts of Ipek, Prizren. Jakova. Mitrovitza, Prishtina, Uskup, Dibra, Struga and Okhrida, as well as the province of Chameria, or South Epirus, as the Greeks call it, extending from the canal of Corfu to Preveza. To dispute the Albanian character of these districts is to fly in the face of hard facts attested by every impartial observer. The Serbians frankly gave up the job and claim the Albanian province of Kossovo on hazy historical grounds and on recollections of the short-lived empire of Czar Dushan. The Albanians answered that they were there centuries before the appearance of the Serbians on the Danube and are today the actual possessors of the land. Moreover, the Serbians have no reason and no right to extend southward now that they can legitimately expand northward and secure their outlets to the sea through lands inhabited by kindred races.
The Greek claim to South Albania is based on a stupid confusion of religion with race. According to the Greek theory, all Albanians belonging to the Greek Church are claimed as "Greeks." The absurdity of this theory is self-evident, but the Greeks, knowing the weakness of their position, add that all the Christian Albanians of the South want to be united with Greece. This contention falls to the ground when it is remembered that some of the most prominent Albanian leaders are Christians of the South. The undersigned, Christian clergymen from the South, voice the sentiment of thousands of Christian Albanians in America and in South Albania in declaring that they oppose the annexation of their native districts by Greece. On the other hand, no district of South Albania is exclusively inhabited by Christians, the Mohammedan Albanians being almost everywhere in a majority and fiercely opposing a Greek annexation. A plebiscite can prove this assertion provided it is conducted after a previous occupation of the contested regions by the armies of disinterested nation like America which has no axe of its own to grind. The same thing could be done in all northern districts contested by the Serbians and the Montenegrins.
Ethnographic reasons are not the only ones which militate for a rectification of frontiers on behalf of Albania. The permanent loss of the fertile regions of Kossovo and Chameria, or South Epirus, will cripple the economic life of the Albanian State. The cities of Ipek, Prizren, Jakova, Struga and Dibra, ceded to Serbia and Montenegro, are the market places of districts which were left to Albania by the absurd and unjust delimitation drawn up by the London Conference. Geographically, these cities belong to the Drin Valley, which must go as a whole to Albania. On the other hand, the delimitation of the southern boundary left to Greece a considerable part of the only carossable road existing in South Albania, which connects the city and district of Koritza with its seaport of Santi Quaranta. The mountainous character of South Albania makes the construction of another road between these points an extremely costly affair if not a physical impossibility. Geographically, all the southern districts down to Preveza belong to Albania, as it can be easily ascertained by a mere examination of a map and the course of the rivers. Another reason for the inclusion of the southern districts in the independent Albanian state is the fact that the Albanians of the South, whether Christians or Moslems, are the most advanced, the most cultivated and the most patriotic element of their race and their loss would be fatal to the future development and progress of the Albanian state. The city of Koritza, the cleanest city in the Balkans, is also the cradle of Albanian literary and national renaissance.
That the Albanian harbors must belong to Albania needs no extensive discussion. Their population is purely Albanian and their secure possession is an absolute necessity for the normal economic development of a maritime country like Albania.
The accusation that the Albanians themselves were responsible for the collapse of the Albanian state, and therefore should not be given another chance, becomes ridiculous when the following facts are taken into consideration. The Albanians had practically no voice in the conduct of the affairs of their country; the International Commission of Control, appointed by the Powers to draw up the constitution of the new state and to organise the finances and the administration of Albania, could not agree on any measure on account of the jealousies of the representatives of the rival groups; the condominium of Austria and Italy degenerated into a pandemonium; an inexperienced German prince, selected and imposed on the Albanians by the European Powers, added to the general confusion by his blunders; the loan promised by the Powers to Albania has never materialised and nothing could be done without money; Greece has never evacuated the districts of South Albania, assigned to the new state by the London Conference, and Albania had to fight from the outset against lawless Greek bands; after the outbreak of the European war, Albania was attacked and overrun by Greece, Serbia and Montenegro, without any provocation, for the simple reason that these states availed themselves of the general conflagration to carry out their plan of partitioning Albania among themselves.
The Albanians do not claim to be as advanced and refined as the western nations of Europe but they justly resent any implication that they are inferior to any other Balkan nation. There is more illiteracy in Montenegro, which has been free for a century, than in Albania where national schools were prohibited by the Turks. As a matter of fact, the trade of Montenegro is entirely in the hands of Albanian merchants. The Roman Catholic clergy of North Albania, composed of two archbishops, four bishops and over 300 priests, is the best-educated clergy throughout the Balkans. The Greeks, after a century of national life, have been unable to create a literary medium, Their written language being an artificial and barbaric jargon, neither ancient nor spoken Greek, while the Albanians in less than thirty years and under the most trying circumstances have cultivated their language and produced powerful poets and writers, like Father George Fishta, Anton Chako, and Faik Bey Konitza, with whom no modern Balkan author can stand a comparison. So far as religious toleration is concerned, the Albanians are easily superior to all Balkan races and to some highly civilised western nations of Europe; Albania is the only country in the world where Mohammedans, Roman Catholics and Greek Catholics have always lived in peace and harmony, have always sunk their religious differences and united for the defense of their common fatherland, Christians electing a Mohammedan leader and Mohammedans electing a Christian leader without being prejudiced by religious considerations; the Pan-Albanian Federation of America had a Mohammedan president, when the majority of its members were Christians, a Protestant president when no other member professed his religion, and now that the majority of its members are Mohammedans the president is an Orthodox Christian; which explains why the Jews of South Albania and especially of Janina prefer to live under Albanian rather than Greek rule. On the other hand, it is a well known fact that the Rumanians of Pindus, or Kutzovlachs, have several times appealed to the Powers since the London Conference to be included in Albania and thus escape Greek oppression and misrule. Similarly the Bulgarians of western Macedonia would not hesitate for a moment to opt for Albania if the alternative for them were to be subjected to either Greece or Serbia. The arrogant claim of Greeks and Serbians to "civilise" the Albanians by dividing their lands can find a stern rebuke in the pages of the report of the Carnegie Commission where their atrocities and massacres in Albania and Macedonia have been duly recorded by impartial investigators with documentary evidence, while the chivalrous conduct of the Albanians during the disastrous retreat of the Serbian armies through Albania in 1915 might serve as a contrast, fully illustrating the civilisation and humanity of the races involved.
It has been asserted by the enemies of Albania, and a good many well-meaning foreigners have been led to believe, that an Albanian state cannot be financed on account of the alleged unwillingness of the Albanians to pay taxes. This is a gross exaggeration. The vast majority of the Albanians had been accustomed for years to pay taxes to Turkey, only a negligible minority of some highlanders of the North being exempt, and even these consented to submit to taxation by a national Albanian government in 1914. Another equally gross exaggeration advanced by interested parties is that Albania is composed of various clans which are unwilling to submit to a central government and that cantonal autonomy should be given to each clan. As a matter of fact the only clans existing in North Albania scarcely number 60,000 members and it is a matter of history that these clans scrupulously submitted to orders from the central government of Vallona and Durazzo and obeyed the officials sent to administer their districts in 1913 and 1914. The whole affair of Albanian cantons was a suggestion of interested parties which tried in that fashion to create foreign spheres of influences. The Albanians themselves rejected this plan with unanimity, which left no doubt in the minds of the foreign intriguers.
A simple enumeration of the achievements of some famous Albanians and their contributions to human civilisation and progress may give an idea of the potentialities of the Albanian race: Alexander the Great conquered the East and carried European civilisation to the heart of Asia and Africa; Emperor Diocletian of Rome performed the stupendous task of reorganizing the tottering Roman empire; Emperor Constantine, the first Christian ruler of Europe, proclaimed Christianity as the official religion of the Roman empire; Saint Jerome translated the Bible into Latin and thus helped to christianise Europe; George Castriot Scanderbeg, one of the greatest Champions of Christianity and the last king of Albania, fought victoriously against the Turks for twenty-five years and saved Europe from the horrors of Turkish invasion in the fifteenth century; the Bushatlis of Scutari and Ali Pasha Tepelen of Janina continued the struggles of Albania against the unspeakable Turk for over half a century; Mehmed Ali Pasha liberated Egypt, Palestine and Syria and but for the intervention of the European Powers would have conquered Constantinople and abolished the Turkish empire a century ago; most of the leaders of the Greek wars of liberation, like Canari, Miauli, Chavella, Bochari and others were Albanians; the leaders of the Albanian revolutions of 1910, 1911, and 1912 undermined the morale of the Turkish army and were mainly responsible for its defeat during the Balkan wars. Finally, the Albanians have done their bit in the cause of civilisation and humanity by fighting on the side of the French and the Italians against the Austro-Germans on the Balkan front, while numerous Albanians have shed their blood under the Stars and Stripes in France.
In view of these achievements, the Albanian race can rightly claim a chance to develop freely its genius and contribute its share to the cause of human progress and civilisation. With proper assistance and disinterested guidance, such as have been freely given to all other Balkan nations in their first steps towards national life, Albania, instead of being the cockpit of conflicting interests, will soon become a factor of peace and progress in the Balkans. The Albanians hope that America and the Allies will gladly help Albania to get on her feet, thus settling the Balkan question on a just basis, saving an ancient and promising race from extermination and enslavement, and giving it the place among the civilised nations of the world for which she has fought the longest and hardest of battles through the centuries.
For the Orthodox Albanians of America
Very Rev. Fan S. Noli,
Rev. Naum V. Cere,
Rev. Damian Angeli,
Rev. Mark J. Kondili,
Rev. Pando Sinitza,
Rev. Vangel Chamche.
Boston, Massachusetts, November 27, 1918

[ZANOR]

a shkon shqiptar me Janullatosin a?

[Edvin83]

"Janullatosi hoqi foton e Nolit nga kisha e Bostonit"

At Nikolla Marku i Elbasanit akuzon Kryepeshkopin grek të Kishës Ortodokse Shqiptare

Elbasani ka përkujtuar dje 100-vjetorin e mbajtjes së meshës së parë në gjuhën shqipe. Peshkopi i Kishës Autoqefale Kombëtare, në lagjen "Kala" të Elbasanit, At Nikolla Marku, ka kremtuar sipas riteve fetare këtë përvjetor të rëndësishëm. "Kemi kënaqësinë të përkujtojmë me nder e lavdi kombëtare të madhin Fan Noli, i cili si sot, një shekull më parë, mundi të mbajë në gjuhën e mëmës meshën e parë", tha At Nikolla Marku, prifti i kishës së Shën Mërisë në Elbasan. Marku, modest e patriot, ka dhënë dje për mediat një deklaratë, sido që me doza fetare, por në përmbajtje me vlera atdhetare kombëtare.

Ai ka vlerësuar aktin historik të Fan Stilian Nolit, i cili 100 vjet më parë, me shqiptarët e diasporës në Amerikë, arriti të mbajë meshën e parë në gjuhën shqipe, me shqiptarët që jetonin e punonin në Boston të shtetit Masaçuset. Sipas tij, mesha ishte dhe ka mbetur themeli i Kishës Autoqefale Kombëtare, për të cilën prifti elbasanas ka afro 20 vjet që lufton ta bëjë kishë mbizotëruese në Shqipëri. "Dua të denoncoj publikisht me këtë rast, aktin barbar dhe antifetar ortodoks të Hirësisë së tij Janullatos, që këto ditë ka hequr nga Kisha Shqiptare Ortodokse e Bostonit fotografinë e të madhit Fan Noli, emri dhe vepra e të cilit nderon të gjithë bashkëkombësit kudo që ndodhen e në çdo këndvështrim që e shohim sot", ka shtuar At Nikolla Marku. Ai ka ftuar të gjithë ortodoksët elbasanas dhe të gjithë besimtarët e feve, që respektojnë dhe vlerësojnë figurën komplekse të Nolit, që të jenë sot të pranishëm në meshën e mbajtur për nder të 100- vjetorit të këndimit në shqip të këtij riti fetar ortodoks, mbajtur në Boston të Amerikës. Nga ana tjetër, edhe Kisha Ortodokse Autoqefale e Shqipërisë, me Kryepeshkop Anastas Janullatosin ka dalë dje me një deklaratë për shtyp, ku njofton për aktivitetet e planifikuara për 100-vjetorin e meshës së parë në gjuhën shqipe.

Marre nga Gazeta Shqip

[iliria e para]

Prifti i Kishës Ortodokse Shën Mëria i është bashkuar protestës se ortodoksëve shqiptarë të Amerikës se në meshë do të jetë dhe kryepeshkopi Janullatos

Eshtë e papranueshme dhe njëkohësisht poshtëruese, prania e grekut Anastas Janullatos në meshën që i kushtohet figurës së Fan Nolit dhe 100-vjetorit të Kishës së Bostonit, që është shenjtëruar nga ortodoksët e vërtetë shqiptarë, dhe jo ata grekë". Kështu ka reaguar dje At Nikolla Marku. Prifti i Kishës Ortodokse Shën Mëria, që ndodhet në lagjen "Kala" të Elbasanit, dje i është bashkuar protestës dhe "zemërimit" të ortodoksëve shqiptarë të Amerikës, pas lajmit të dhënë se në meshë do të jetë i pranishëm dhe kryepeshkopi Janullatos. Marku e konsideron absurde praninë e eksarkut Janullatos në Kishën Shën Gjergji të Bostonit, e cila është themeluar nga Imzot Fan Noli. Pikërisht në 100- vjetorin e kësaj kishe dhe meshës së parë në gjuhën shqipe që ka mbajtur Noli më 8 mars 1908, kreu i Kishës Autoqefale Kombëtare Shqiptare në Elbasan, ka dalë në një konferencë shtypi ku ka përshëndetur ditën e lumturuar të themelimit të katedrales së Shën Gjergjit në Boston, ndërsa ka cilësuar si të papranueshme praninë e Anastas Janullatos në një nga kishat më të vjetra shqiptare, që nuk ka asnjë lidhje me ortodoksinë e Janullatosit, por që është simbol i ortodoksisë shqiptare, të pandikuar nga Patriarkana greke e Athinës.

REAGIMI
Pas reagimit të ortodoksëve shqiptarë të Amerikës, At Nikolla Marku ka deklaruar se "sot është një ditë e shenjtëruar. Ajo është simboli i kishës së vërtetë, që nuk ka asnjë lidhje me kishën greke dhe se Imzot Theofan Stilian Noli është shqiptari i madh që e bëri të njohur autoqefalinë e kishës shqiptare nga ndikimet greke". Madje, Nikolla është shprehur se ka qenë kjo arsyeja që greku Janullatos hoqi portretin e Fan Nolit nga personalitetet e themelimit të Kishës së Shën Gjergjit në Boston. "Bashkohem me protestën e shqiptarëve të Amerikës dhe shoqatës "Vatra", që e cilëson poshtërim dhe të papranueshme praninë e Janullatosit në kishën katedrale të Bostonit, themeluar nga njeriu që u bë më pas edhe krijuesi dhe themeluesi edhe i statutit të vërtetë të KOAKSH-së, të cilën Janullatosi kërkon ta ndryshojë, duke e përdhosur atë", - është shprehur prifti i Kishës Ortodokse Shën Mëria në Elbasan.

PËRVJETORI E MESHA
NË BOSTON
Këtë të diel, në Boston, për të gjithë shqiptarët, dhe veçanërisht për ata të besimit të krishterë ortodoks, do organizohet një festë, një kremtim, një përshpirtje me një meshë kushtuar figurës së Fan Nolit dhe 100-vjetorit të kishës katedrale të Bostonit. Mësohet se bashkësia shqiptare në këtë zonë ka bërë një reagim, që më tepër se sa fetar është i pastër, shqiptar. Thuhet se shumë shqiptarë e kanë bojkotuar festën për shkak të prezencës së priftit grek, Anastas Janullatos. Shumë prej tyre, sapo kanë mësuar lajmin për praninë e kryepeshkopit Janullatos, ndonëse kishin bërë më parë pronotime në lokalin e të mirënjohurit Antoni Athanas-Pier-4, i kanë anuluar. Ndërkaq, prifti elbasanas, At Nikolla Marku ka ftuar dje të gjithë ortodoksit elbasanas dhe banorët e këtij qyteti për të marrë pjesë në një eveniment njëshekullor të Kishës Ortodokse Autoqefale Kombëtare Shqiptare.

Fatmir Popja

[Shkelqesia_E_Tij]

Sikur Imzot Theofan Stilian Noli te ishte gjalle do ti bekonte keto rreagime me driten e se vertetes dhe te pastertise shpiretore qe duhet te kete çdo orthodoks shqiptar ndryshe nga "predikimet" qe Janullatosi & Co mundohen tu hedhin hi syve te besimtareve orthodokse shqiptare..

Nje veprim qe duhet te sherbeje si shembull per gjithe Othodoksine Shqiptare !

[xfiles]

Sikur Imzot Theofan Stilian Noli te ishte gjalle do ti bekonte keto rreagime me driten e se vertetes dhe te pastertise shpiretore qe duhet te kete çdo orthodoks shqiptar ndryshe nga "predikimet" qe Janullatosi & Co mundohen tu hedhin hi syve te besimtareve orthodokse shqiptare..

Nje veprim qe duhet te sherbeje si shembull per gjithe Othodoksine Shqiptare !

jam dakord,
Ishte pikerisht Fan Noli qe krijoi kishen e pavarur shqiptare, dhe me siguri nuk ishte endrra e tij nje kishe e kryesuar nga nje grek.