Damian of Albania
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His Beatitude Damian |
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| Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania | |
| Installed | April 1966 |
| Term ended | February 1967 |
| Predecessor | Paisius |
| Successor | Post Abolished (Anastasios following re-establishment in 1992) |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Dhimitër Kokoneshi |
| Born | 1886 Mokër, Manastir Vilayet, Ottoman Empire (modern-day Albania) |
| Died | 8 October 1973 Pogradec, Communist Albania (modern-day Albania) |
| Alma mater | Normal School of Monastir (1896) Academy of Theology in Ioannina (1925) |
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Styles of The Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës and all Albania |
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|---|---|
 |
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| Reference style | His Beatitude |
| Spoken style | Your Beatitude |
| Religious style | Archbishop |
| Posthumous style | N/A |
Archbishop Damian (Albanian: Kryepeshkop Damian, secular name Dhimitër Kokoneshi; 1886 - 8 October 1973, Pogradec) was the bishop of the from April 1966 until February 1967, when the religion was abolished in Albania.
Kokoneshi was born in 1886 in the village of Llëngë in Mokër region, (part of then Ottoman Empire), near Pogradec in today's Albania. He was of Vlach descent. His early education included attending the Normal School of Monastir in 1896 and the Academy of Theology in Ioannina in 1925.
On November 27, 1918, the Émigré Albanian Orthodox clerics sent a signed petition to the U.S. President, then Woodrow Wilson, asking for support of Albanian Church becoming . The cleric's position was based on Albania becoming an independent country. The petition was signed by Father Theofan Stilian Noli, Father Damian Kokoneshi, Father Naum Cëre, Father Vasil Marko Kondili, Father Pando Sinica, and Father Vangjel Çamçe, future metropolitan Agathangjeli. The petition was supported by the Albanian Church Assembly ("Kuvendi Kishëtar") in Boston, MA on July 30, 1919. Autocephaly was finally declared at the Congress of Berat on September 12, 1922.
On February 10, 1942, Kokoneshi, well known in his native region, led a delegation of Mokër leaders to a meeting with representatives of the National Liberation Movement. At that time, Kokoneshi was referred to as Papa Dhimitër Kokoneshi. The meeting led to the formation of a partisan regional battalion, which he joined. Similar to his predecessor as bishop of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania, Pashko Vodica, Kokoneshi and the new regime showed mutual support and respect for each other.
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