The President of Albania, Ilir Meta, gave Archbishop Iannullatos the Albanian citizenship.
Iannullatos had made this request long time ago, and it had been refused by all Albanian Presidents, with the argument that it is a sensible matter for the public opinion.
Iannullatos was born in Pireus, Greece, in 1929. When he was appointed Archbishop of the Albanian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, there was a strong opposition from Albanian Orthodox members.
They feared that Iannullatos would influence losing the independence of Albania’s Orthodox Church. In 1994 there was also an effort to remove Iannullatos, through the new Constitution, but that didn’t get voted by the people for over reasons.
President Meta valued his contribution in Albania for the past 25 years, and also for the education of the new Albanian clergymen.
Iannullatos himself declared on a Greek TV a few days ago that his successor would certainly be Albanian.
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