ABSTRACT
Joanidhi claimed that both Ierothe and Vasil Marko had intentionally sabotaged the implementation of the agreement reached just days before in Tirana on the establishment of the Holy Synod. The hierarchs’ second request, claiming that they “were obligated” to complete the Synod by a governmental decree, supports this hypothesis. In Ierothe’s view, Metropolitan Joakim’s arrival in Albania implied that a Synod composed of four bishops with long experience would ultimately increase the dignity of the Church. Kurti met with the Greek Foreign Ministry’s political director, who told him that no bishop could move without the permission of the Holy Synod of the Greek Church, so Kurti would have to ask the archbishop of Athens if this was possible. The government also requested that if the king did not approve a bishop appointed by the Church, then the Synod must elect another.
