Catholic Church in Albania

Catholic Church of Thethi

St Anthony Church at Rodon Cape along the Albanian Adriatic coast

Distribution of Catholics in Albania as according to the 1918 census. Data unavailable in the South and East due to political instability.

Traditional Catholic woman in Northern Albania

The Catholic Church in Albania (Albanian: Kisha katolike në Shqipëri) is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.

At the 2023 census, the percentage of Catholics was 8.38%

Catholicism is strongest in the northwestern part of the country, which historically had the most readily available contact with, and support from, Rome and the Republic of Venice. Mirditë has the highest concentration of Catholics while, Shkodër is the center of Catholicism in Albania. More than 20,000 Albanian Catholics are located in Montenegro, mostly in Ulcinj, Bar, Podgorica, Tuzi, Gusinje and Plav. The region is considered part of the Malsia Highlander region of the seven Albanian Catholic tribes. The region was split from Ottoman Albania after the First Balkan War. There are also scattered Albanian Catholics in Kosovo and North Macedonia, with the greatest concentration being in the vicinity of Gjakova.

There are five dioceses in the country, including two archdioceses plus an Apostolic Administration covering southern Albania. Caritas Albania is the official social arm of the Church.

History

For four centuries, the Albanian Catholics have retained their faith with the aid of:

• The Franciscan missionaries, especially since the middle of the 17th century, when persecutions by Muslim lords set in motion the apostasy of many Albanian villages.
• The College of Propaganda at Rome, especially prominent in religious and moral support of Albanian Catholics. During the 17th and 18th centuries, particularly, it educated young clerics for service on the Albanian missions, contributing then as now to their support and to that of the churches.
• The Austrian Government, which gave about five thousand dollars yearly to the Albanian missions, in its role of Protector of the Christian community under Turkish rule. Apropos of the Austrian interest in Albania, it may be stated that it is the Austrian ambassador who obtains from the Sultan the Berat, or civil document of institution, for the Catholic bishops of Albania.

The Church legislation of the Albanians was reformed by Pope Clement XI, effecting a general ecclesiastical visitation (1703) by the Archbishop of Antivari, at the close of which a national synod was held. Its decrees were printed by Propaganda (1705), and renewed in 1803. In 1872, Pius IX caused a second national synod to be held at Scutari, for the renovation of the popular and ecclesiastical life.

Organization

Ecclesiastical province of Shkodër–Pult:

  Archdiocese of Shkodër–Pult

  Diocese of Sapë

  Diocese of Lezhë

Ecclesiastical province of Tiranë-Durrës:

  Archdiocese of Tiranë–Durrës

  Diocese of Rrëshen

  Apostolic Administration of Southern Albania

The country is currently split into two Ecclesiastical provinces each headed by Archbishops – Shkodër-Pult in the north and Tiranë-Durrës in the centre and south. Shkodrë-Pult has two suffragan Diocese for Lezhë and Sapë. Tiranë-Durrës has one suffragan Diocese for Rrëshen as well as metropolitan authority over the Byzantine Rite Apostolic Administration of Southern Albania, also known as the Albanian Greek-Catholic Church.

Name	Territory	Catholic Population	%
Archdiocese of Shkodër–Pult	Shkodër	166,700	70%
Diocese of Lezhë	Lezhë	86,300	71%
Diocese of Sapë	Zadrima, Vau-Dejes	70,701	35%
Archdiocese of Tiranë-Durrës	Tirana	135,400	11%
Diocese of Rrëshen	Rrëshen	55,300	23%
Apostolic Administration of Southern Albania	Southern Albania	3,000	0.2%

The first known Bishop of present-day Albania was Bassus , who was made Bishop of Scutari (Shkodër) in 387, suffragan to the Bishop of Thessaloniki, Primate of all Illyricum. In the 6th century, Shkodër became a suffrage of Ohrid, in the present-day North Macedonia, which was made the Primate of all Illyricum, and by the early Middle Ages, Shkodër was suffrage of the Bishop of Duklja, in present-day Montenegro. In 1867 Shkodër was united with the Archdiocese of Antivari (Bar, Montenegro), but split in 1886, to become a separate Archdiocese once again with suffragan bishops in Lezhë, Sapë and Pult. The Diocese of Pult (Pulati) – a region north of Shkodër between the present day villages of Drisht and Prekal – dates back to 899, when a Bishop of Pult was appointed as a suffragan to the Bishop of Duklja. The Diocese was once divided into Greater Pult and Lesser Pult but eventually merged with Shkodër in 2005. Drisht, a village north of Shkodër, also used to be a separate Bishopric. The Diocese of Sapë (Sappa) – covering the region of Zadrima between Shkodër and Lezhë – dates back to 1062, and that of Lezhë (Alessio) to the 14th century. The Archdiocese of Durrës was created in the 13th century, as the Bishopric of Albanopolis. It united with Tirana in 1992. The Diocese of Rrëshen was split off in 1996.

The Apostolic Administration of Southern Albania was created in 1939.

Other former ancient Diocese in Albania were Dinnastrum and Balazum.

Modern period

The Albanian Catholic Church experienced a short-lived period of freedom after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. It ended when the Communists came into power, government, after World War II, and in 1967 constitutionally declared Albania an atheistic state. "The Church was systematically persecuted and neither the structures nor the faithful were spared. All religion symbols in churches were forcefully removed and the buildings resemblance to churches were destroyed, and used for non-religious, degrading and humiliating purposes. The cathedral in Shkoder, for example, was turned into a sports hall, and the cathedral in Durres was used as a puppet theatre. As the Pope said during his visit to Albania in 2014, these were 'decades of atrocious suffering and terrible persecution'."

On 26 November 2019, an earthquake struck Albania. The Catholic Church in Albania held Mass in its churches on 27 and 28 November for earthquake victims and coordinated its relief efforts through local branches of the Catholic charity Caritas Shqiptar.

According to Marco Mencaglia, project director for the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, the Church in Albania faces many challenges: " The Church in Tirana, the capital, in the middle of the country, is particularly in need. There are very few diocesan priests. Pastoral work is carried out by religious communities, with very little means of support. To this one must add the internal migration of people who come from the north of the country in search of a better future in the capital. The south, which has a very small number of Catholics, can be considered first-mission territory, and a starting point for a new mission. Many brave missionaries have arrived in this region to begin new communities where the church was completely unknown."

Demographics

Distribution of Catholic believers in Albania as according to the 2011 census.

According to the 2011 Albanian census, 10.03% of the population affiliated with Catholicism, while 56.7% were Muslims, 13.79% undeclared, 6.75% Orthodox believers, 5.49% other, 2.5% Atheists, 2.09% Bektashis and 0.14% other Christians.

No clear statistics of any province of the former Ottoman empire have been compiled. The CIA World Factbook uses the figures from the 1939 Census of 70% Muslim, 20% Eastern Orthodox Christian, and 10% Catholic.

The 2023 census note that 8% of the population are Catholic Christians.

Geographical distribution

Catholics form a majority in Lezhë County (72.38%) and the largest religious group in Shkodër County (47.19%).

Share of Catholics in Albania per place (2011 census)
Place	Population (2011)	Catholics (%)
Shllak	671	99.1
Vig-Mnelë	1,509	98.1
Orosh	1,899	97.7
Shalë	1,804	97.7
Hajmel	4,430	96.9
Kaçinar	1,016	96.8
Fierzë	1,302	96.5
Blinisht	3,361	96.0
Pult	1,529	95.7
Rubik	4,454	95.1
Ungrej	1,587	93.8
Kelmend	3,056	93.5
Kallmet	4,118	93.4
Fan	2,977	93.4
Gjegjan	2,846	92.6
Ulëz	1,229	92.6
Kolç	4,228	92.4
Dajç	3,834	92.0
Rrëshen	8,803	91.8
Kthjellë	2,209	91.5
Zejmen	5,660	91.0
Shosh	304	90.9
Shënkoll	13,102	87.4
Temal	1,562	86.1
Balldre	6,142	85.4
Velipojë	5,031	84.5
Lekbibaj	1,207	84.1
Selitë	745	82.5
Kastrat	6,883	82.4
Qelëz	1,761	82.0
Qafë-Mali	1,548	81.5
Qerret	1,498	81.0
Iballë	1,129	78.2
Vau i Dejës	8,117	77.0
Fushë-Arrëz	2,513	73.3
Shëngjin	8,091	72.4
Fushë-Kuqe	5,460	71.3
Dajç	3,885	71.1
Rrapë	1,357	69.9
Guri i Zi	8,085	66.4
Lezhë	15,510	65.3
Shkrel	3,520	62.5
Laç	17,086	60.7
Bushat	14,149	57.4
Rrethinat	21,199	47.4
Blerim	913	46.6
Mamurras	15,284	36.9
Bërdicë	5,773	36.4
Baz	2,228	32.9
Milot	8,461	32.7
Kodër-Thumanë	12,335	31.0
Shkodër	77,075	29.9
Bubq	5,951	29.2
Fierzë	1,607	28.3
Gruemirë	8,890	26.1
Llugaj	1,787	24.0
Pukë	3,607	22.5
Ana e Malit	3,858	21.6
Qendër	4,740	21.2

Gallery

• 
  One of Tirana's Catholic churches.
• 
  Old Catholic church in Vlora.
• 
  Pope Francis Bust in Tirana
• 
  Mother Teresa Cathedral, Vau i Dejës
• 
  St Lucia Cathedral, Durrës

See also

• Religion in Albania
• Christianity in Albania
• Protestantism in Albania
• Episcopal Conference of Albania
• Jesuits in Albania
• Albanian Greek Catholic Church
• Catholic Church by country

Sources

• William Martin Leake, Travels in Northern Greece (London, 1835)
• Élisée Reclus, The Earth and its Inhabitants (New York, 1895, Eng. tr.): Europe, I, 115-126
• Gustave Léon Niox, Péninsule des Balkans
• Edith Durham, Travels
• John Gardner Wilkinson, almatia and Montenegro (1848)
• Herder, Konvers. Lex., s. v.
• Ami Boué, la Turquie d'Europe (Paris, 1889)
• Alexandre Degrand, Souvenirs de la Haute-Albanie (Paris, 1901)
• Emanuele Portal, Note Albanesi (Palermo, 1903)
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Christitch, Elizabeth (1907). "Albania". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

The documents of the medieval religious history of Albania are best found in the eight volumes of Daniele Farlati, Illyricum Sacrum (Venice, 1751-1819). See also Augustin Theiner, Vetera Monumenta Slavorum meridionalium historiam illustrantia (Rome, 1863 sqq.). Ecclesiastical statistics may be seen in O. Werner, Orbis Terrarum Catholicus (Freiburg, 1890), 122-124, and 120; also in the Missiones Catholicæ (Rome, Propaganda Press, triennially).