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  Health Care Chaplaincy in Albania

As the Chaplaincy of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania representative, I would like to express my appreciation for your considering us in your worthy European Network.

One can not avoid briefly discussing the history of Albania when delving into the spiritual and health care aspects of this country. For more that fifty years Albania suffered from an extremely harsh and dictatorial form of communism that eventually lauded the fact that they were the first completely atheistic country in history. This followed a systematic persecution of all religious expression from the imprisonment of priests to the destruction of mosques. The government worked vigilantly to supplant the state in the place of God. This putrid effect permeated even to the level of the songs grade school children sang. The people of Albania also suffered with the commonly employed techniques of interfamilial spying, coercion, and the unification of the populous against a common, nonexistent foe.

With the jubilant fall of communism in 1992 came the work of resurrecting the religious identity of the Albanian people. All the religious traditions have demonstrated remarkable resourcefulness in resurrecting the religious identity of the Church of Albania. At this point I must declare my bias when I reference Mr. Forrest's Book, The Resurrection of the Orthodox Church of Albania (contracted by the WCC) for the Archbishop Anastasios is a particularly good example of this. The infant Orthodox Church of Albania is now struggling to cope with a myriad of problems, one of which is health Chaplaincy.

I must restrict all further comments to that of the Orthodox Church. While I am sure that the other Churches have made significant strides in this area I am simply unable to speak authoritatively about them.

I am pleased to report that presently the only Orthodox Seminary in St. Vlash Albania trains its seminarians in the art and sacrament of administering to those that are sick and infirmed.
While there is no formal program of Chaplaincy in any of the hospitals in Albania it is not unusual to see a priest attending to the bedside of a sick believer. I am certain I don't need to explain the profound benefit felt by the patient on a spiritual, emotional and physical level. Further, considering the severe shortages of medical supplies at the state run hospitals one can appreciate the added fervour that parishioners have when forced to seek medical attention in Albania. The extent of the Chaplaincy in Albania at this time is the request of a parishioner for a priest to pray for the one sick and infirmed.

With the guidance and direction provided by European Network of Health Care Chaplaincy we look to a future of Chaplaincy in Albania with great optimism. I personally look forward to a dialog with the network to share our experience and struggles and learn in any way we can.

Charles G. Linderman M.D., FACS
Tirana, Albania

[May 2006]