Interreligious Dialogue in Albania — Georgios Gaitanos, Theology & Culture, Vol. 8 (2024), pp. 69–85

How has a country of such deep religious diversity avoided religious conflict for more than a century? In this compelling study, Dr. Georgios Gaitanos, Head of the Department of Theology and Culture at University College Logos in Tirana, offers a rich account of one of Europe's most striking models of interfaith coexistence.

Home to five major religious communities — Sunni Muslims, Orthodox Christians, Roman Catholics, Evangelicals, and the Bektashi — Albania has long been celebrated as a place where faith unites rather than divides. Gaitanos traces this achievement across six historical periods, from the Ottoman era to the founding of the Albanian state in 1912, when the ideal that "the religion of the Albanian is Albanianism" placed shared national identity above confessional lines. He revisits the trauma of communist rule, when Albania became the world's first officially atheist state and all worship was banned, and charts the remarkable revival of religious life after 1990.

At the heart of the article is the Interreligious Council of Albania (IRCA), founded in 2007, whose joint humanitarian, educational, and peace-building work — from earthquake relief to global peace assemblies — has earned international recognition, including the "Sergio Vieira de Mello" award. Drawing on the ecumenical legacy of the Orthodox Church and ongoing cooperation among the country's theological schools, Gaitanos shows how dialogue is sustained in practice, not merely proclaimed.

Clear-eyed as well as celebratory, the study asks what it will take to keep this harmony alive for future generations. Essential reading for anyone interested in intercultural dialogue, religious coexistence, and the Euro-Mediterranean model of living together.