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After about six months in office as Prime Minister he was forced to flee due to a coup led by future king Ahmed Bey Zogu and take up residence in Germany. Metr. Noli eventually returned to the United States in 1932 as a permanent resident and reassumed leadership of the American [[diocese]], the number of parishes having grown by 67% in his absence. He directed the activities of diocese through World War II. As early as the 1930s the diocese and Metr. Theofan recognized the need to serve the young English speaking generation. As he had done with Albanian translations, he produced translations of the services into English to support introduction of English into the parishes.
In the United States he led in discussions with Metr. [[Leonty (Turkevich) of New York|Leonty]] of the Metropolia on the need for a single Orthodox jurisdiction in America. It was left, however, to his successor to fulfill the idea of joining into a single jurisdiction. After Metr. Noli’s death on [[March 13]], 1965, without a diocesan nomination, Fr. Steven [[Stephen (Lasko ) of Boston|Stephen Lasko]] was consecrated bishop for the Albanian diocese by the communist-influenced Synod of the Church of Albania. The Church of Albania had never claimed any jurisdiction in North America.
In Albania, the communist party that controlled the country since the end of World War II became more oppressive until by 1967 the Orthodox Church functioned in Albania only in clandestine services. The diocese, formed by Bp. Noli and now struggling with the consecration of Bp. Stephen, petitioned the newly autocephalous [[Orthodox Church in America]] for canonical recognition as the Albanian Orthodox Archdiocese in America.
