Christianity in Albania - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Christianity in Albania was established throughout the country in 100 AD. From 1000 AD, the Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

carried out Church missions in the area. In relation to the increasing influence of Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

, the Franciscan

Franciscan

Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....

s started to settle down in the area in the 13th century. From the 15th century to the 19th century, under the rule of the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

, Christianity was replaced by Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

as the majority religion in Albania. A Pew Research Center

Pew Research Center

The Pew Research Center is an American think tank organization based in Washington, D.C. that provides information on issues, attitudes and trends shaping the United States and the world. The Center and its projects receive funding from The Pew Charitable Trusts. In 1990, Donald S...

demographic study from 2009 put the percentage of Muslims in Albania

Islam in Albania

During the Ottoman rule, according to Ottoman data, the majority of Albanians were of Muslim affiliation . However, decades of state atheism which ended in 1991 brought a decline in religious practice in all traditions....

at 79.9%. The CIA World Factbook gives a distribution of 70% Muslims, 20% Eastern Orthodox, and 10% Roman Catholics. However, the Albanian government gives the percentages of religious affiliations with only 38% Muslim, 16% Eastern Orthodox, 17% Catholic and 25% atheist or nonreligious.

Eastern Orthodoxy

Eastern Orthodoxy is practiced by about 20% of Albanians within Albania. Eastern Orthodoxy is also practiced by many ethnic Albanians in Balkans and Albanian communities living in western Europe,USA and Australia. Albania is historically linked with both the Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy as well as Islam.It was among the first peoples of the region to receive missionaries and accept the Christianity. With the split of the Church,Orthodoxy become the religion for those Albanians inhabiting the areas under the Byzantine rule.

Although Orthodox Christianity has existed in Albania for centuries, and the Orthodoxy historically(before the arrival of Islam) constituted about 50% of the population of Albania,the first Orthodox liturgy in the Albanian language was held not in Albania, but in Massachusetts. Subsequently, when the Orthodox Church was allowed no official existence in communist Albania, Albanian Orthodoxy survived in exile in Boston (1960–1989). It is a curious history that closely entwines Albanian Orthodoxy with the Bay State.

Roman Catholicism

The Roman Catholic Church in Albania is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome. Around 17% of the religious population is Catholic, the third largest religious denomination after Islam and Orthodoxy.
There are five dioceses in the country, including two archdioceses plus an Apostolic Administration covering southern Albania.

Eastern Orthodoxy

Roman Catholicism

See also