Celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Balkan Orthodox Youth Association-BOYA

The Albanian Orthodox Church – November 2013

A festive event on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Balkan Orthodox Youth Association-BOYA was held in Evro, on the premises of youth camps of Makris in Alexandropolis, Greece, with the blessing and the hospitality of the Metropolitan of Alexandropolis, His Eminence Anthimos.     The main goal of the Balkan Orthodox Youth Association is to strengthen and develop relationships among Orthodox youth and to encourage cooperation between sister Churches in the Balkans, through youth movements based on the Orthodox faith and its traditions.     This event was attended by about 50 young people, representatives of Orthodox youth groups, coming from all the Orthodox countries in the Balkans, including four participants from our country, Albania.     The theme of the meeting was: “That All May Be One”, taken from a verse from the Gospel of John.At these meetings, in addition to the religious aspects, friendship and harmony between neighboring Balkan states was also nurtured and strengthened.    These activities were organized with the blessing of the Church leaders who desire that the youth, the very young, and students, participate in such programs in order to create connections and exchanges between young Orthodox.

The event began with introductions among the young participants and after that a lecture in connection with the topic was given by Father Konstandin Vleci, regional secretary for Thessaloniki.     On the first day, the Metropolitan of Alexandropolis, His Eminence Anthimios, welcomed the participants and expressed his great satisfaction that this important activity had been organized in his Metropolis. “We Orthodox throughout the world are a single body, and borders should not separate us. In this way we will always remain united to Christ, just as He loved and wished for us to be …” , he said .

After that greetings and performances continued prepared by representatives from each country, sharing with other young people experiences from past years and similar activities in their home countries.    The second day continued with visits and excursions to the tourist locations and monasteries of the Metropolis. The program included visits in beautiful places which were well organized for young people. The participants visited two monasteries, Panagia Kosmosotira and Panagia Portaitisa, where they honored the relics of the saints, and visited various churches, cultural centers, and the Delta Evros National Park, which is known as one of the best tourist spots of Thraka for the fauna and flora, poultry and birds, fish and more. This park is ranked as second in importance in the Mediterranean.    The third day, October 6th, was a Sunday. Young people went to the monastery, “Dormition of the Theotokos “, and also took part in the Divine Liturgy, and then departed for their countries. Thus, having had a nice experience, an experience that was fitting for the central theme of the event, “That All May Be One”.

Joan Meni

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