Bishop Agathangjel (

secular name A legal name is the name that identifies a person for legal, administrative and other official purposes. A person's legal birth name generally is the name of the person that was given for the purpose of Civil registry, registration of the birth ...

Vangjel Çamçe; 1877–1946) was an

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

Orthodox cleric and important figure of the early

Albanian Orthodox Church The Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania (), commonly known as the Albanian Orthodox Church or the Orthodox Church of Albania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It declared its autocephaly in 1922 through its Congress of 1922, a ...

. He was a staunch supporter of the

autocephaly Autocephaly (; ) is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. The status has been compared with t ...

of Albanian Orthodoxy and a close collaborate of

Fan Noli Theofan Stilian Noli, known as Fan Noli (6 January 1882 – 13 March 1965), was an Albanian Americans, Albanian-American writer, scholar, diplomat, politician, historian, orator, bishop, and founder of the Albanian Orthodox Church and the Albania ...

, founding father of the Albanian Orthodox Church. He was

metropolitan bishop In Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), is held by the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a Metropolis (reli ...

Berat Berat (; sq-definite, Berati) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, ninth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Berat County and Berat Municipality. By air, it is north of Gjirokastër, west of Korçë, south of Tirana, and ea ...

and was a member of the Holy Synod of the Albanian Orthodox Church. He was born in the city of Korça in

1877 Events January * January 1 – Queen Victoria is proclaimed Empress of India by the Royal Titles Act 1876, introduced by Benjamin Disraeli, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom . * January 8 – Great Sioux War of 1876: Batt ...

. In

1913 Events January * January – Joseph Stalin travels to Vienna to research his ''Marxism and the National Question''. This means that, during this month, Stalin, Hitler, Trotsky and Tito are all living in the city. * January 3 &ndash ...

he emigrated to the United States, where he distinguished himself as an activist of the Albanian National Movement. In 1919 he was ordained a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, where he served for two years preaching to

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

Albanians The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, Albanian culture, culture, Albanian history, history and Albanian language, language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, ...

in the

Albanian language Albanian (Endonym and exonym, endonym: , , or ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language and the only surviving representative of the Albanoid, Albanoid branch, which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan languages, Paleo-Balkan group. It ...

. While in America, in the same year he laid the foundations of Saint Mary’s Orthodox Church in Natick, Massachusetts, one of the centers of the Albanian diaspora and its patriotic movement. In 1921, Agathangjel Çamçe returned to

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

and a year later participated in the Congress of Berat (September 10–17,

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

), where

Autocephaly Autocephaly (; ) is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. The status has been compared with t ...

was proclaimed. On 18 February 1929 he was made Bishop of

, Vlora and Kanina in the

Cathedral Church A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

of the

Evangelization Evangelism, or witnessing, is the act of sharing the Christian gospel, the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. It is typically done with the intention of converting others to Christianity. Evangelism can take several forms, such as persona ...

in Tirana, by bishop

Visarion Xhuvani Metropolitan Visarion Xhuvani (14 December 1890 – 15 December 1965) was the primate of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania from 1929 to 1937. He was a main contributor to the autocephaly, and a close collaborator of Fan Noli. Life Vis ...

and bishop Viktor, becoming part of the synod. Together with the Serbian bishop of Shkodër and another bishop, Evthim Ikonomi, Agathangjel Çamçe created the 2d Synod of the Albanian Orthodox Church with Visarion Xhuvani as leader. In October 1940, Agathangjel Çamçe took part in the special synod organized by the Italian-Albanian eparchies at the Abbey of Grottaferrata, where under discussion was the possibility of Grottaferrata welcoming the newly converted Orthodox clergy and assisting their theological training. In 1941 Agathangjel Çamçe was made Metropolitan of Korça. He led the metropolitan dioceses until his death in 1964. After the Italian invaders’ evacuation, Fan Noli together with A. Çamçe from Jamestown, New York, and father Vasil Marku from Saint Luis, Missouri, came to Albania to offer their services to the Albanian government. He died in

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Camce, Agathangjel 19th-century Albanian clergy 20th-century Albanian clergy People from Korçë Bishops of the Albanian Orthodox Church 1877 births 1946 deaths