ABSTRACT
Once the communists came to power in November 1944, the leadership of the AOCA, riddled as it was with great financial difficulties, sought to find common ground with the newly installed communist regime. The communist authorities were sceptical of the Orthodox Church's leadership but supported the lower ranks of the clergy. Cooperation with the communist regime was also sought by a faction of young theologians who were critical of the AOCA's leadership and strove for the complete separation of church and state. However, their idealistic goal of rejuvenating the Orthodox Church went against the agenda of the newly installed communist authorities whose aim was to subjugate all of Albania's religious institutions. Very soon, the movement of the young theologians lost its initial momentum as they found common ground with Archbishop Kissi and his supporters. The communist regime was also concerned about the Orthodox clergy tending the Greek minority Orthodox flock in the south of the country. To counter Athens’ official claims of repression by the so-called Albanian Muslims against the Christian Greeks, Albania's communist authorities managed to secure the support of a large number of Orthodox clergymen among the country's Greek minority.
