Monsignor Visarion Xhuvani, former head of the Albanian Autocephalous Church, was appointed as Metropolitan in the Episcopate of Berat. Visarion Xhuvani consolidated the structure of the Albanian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, giving it hierarchy and national physiognomy. Archbishop Visarion Xhuvani was one of the forerunners of the efforts for the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church. In 1942, he was appointed Metropolitan of Berat, Vlora and Kanina. He remained in this position until 1947 when he was arrested and imprisoned. The Military Court of Vlora, by decision No. 512, dated December 12, 1946, sentenced him to 20 years of deprivation of liberty, with forced labor. In 1962, he got out of prison. He spent the last years of his life in the Monastery of Saint John (Elbasan). (In the photo: Visarion Xhuvani)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 3, Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2009, page 2961.
Photo: © National History Museum
Graphic processing: AHCF
