Italo-Albanian Catholic Church

The Italo-Albanian Catholic Church or Italo-Albanian Byzantine-Catholic Church is one of the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches which, together with the Latin Church, comprise the Catholic Church. It is an autonomous (sui juris) particular church in full communion with the pope of Rome, directly subject to the Roman Dicastery for the Oriental Churches. It follows the Byzantine rite, the ritual and spiritual traditions that are common in most of the Eastern Church. It uses two liturgical languages: Koine Greek, the traditional language of the Eastern Churches, and Albanian, the native language of most of its adherents.

The Italo-Albanian Catholic Church is composed of three ecclesiastical districts: it is headed by two eparchies, that of Lungro in Calabria, that of Piana degli Albanesi in Sicily, and a Territorial Abbacy of Saint Mary of Grottaferrata in Lazio, whose Basilian monks come largely from the Italo-Albanian settlements. It does not have a metropolitan, but is instead led by two eparchs and a territorial abbot. The Church also operates among the Italo-Albanian diaspora in North and South America. It has about 80,000 faithful.

The Italo-Albanian Catholic Church extends its jurisdiction over the Italo-Albanian people, who are the descendants of the exiled Albanians that fled to Italy in the 15th century under the pressure of the Turkish persecutions in Albania, Epirus, Macedonia, Attica and Morea (Peloponnese). For over five centuries, they have managed, as a diaspora, to retain their language, religious aspect, culture and customs. Nowadays, they reside in Southern Italy (Abruzzo, Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Sicily), as well as in Central Italy, where they are present only in the Monastery of Grottaferrata in the Lazio region.

The Italo-Albanian Catholic Church considers itself the heir of the traditional Illyricum Church and is closely linked to the Albanian Greek-Catholic Church, with which it shares a common history and traditions. The fact that the church has never broken away from the See of Rome is a rare testimony – another example being the Maronites – of the persistent unity of the church despite its diversity of traditions.