Christianity in

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

began when Christians arrived in

Illyria In classical and late antiquity, Illyria (; , ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; , ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyrians. The Ancient Gree ...

soon after the time of Jesus, with a bishop being appointed in Dyrrhachium (

Epidamnus Epidamnos ''(Ancient Greek: Επίδαμνος, Albanian: Epidamn)'', later known as Dyrrachium ''(Latin: Dyrrhachium, Greek: Δυρράχιον, Albanian: Dyrrah)'', was a prominent city on the Adriatic coast, located in modern-day Durrës, Alb ...

) in 58 AD. Britannica website, ''History of Albania''
/ref> When the Roman Empire was divided in 395 AD, modern Albania became part of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

, but was under the jurisdiction of the Pope until 732, when Emperor

Leo III Leo III, Leon III, or Levon III may refer to: People * Leo III the Isaurian (685–741), Byzantine emperor 717–741 * Pope Leo III (d. 816), Pope 795–816 * Leon III of Abkhazia, King of Abkhazia 960–969 * Leo II, King of Armenia (c. 1236–128 ...

placed the church under the Patriarch of Constantinople. When the Christian church

split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

in 1054, the north followed Rome while the south of the country stayed with Constantinople. From 1100 AD, the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

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

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

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 The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, Christianity was replaced by

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

as the majority religion in Albania.

Demographics

Census in 2011

The 2011 population census, gives the percentages of religious affiliations with 58% Muslim, 10% Catholic, 7% Orthodox and 25% atheist, nonreligious or other since the fall of Communism in 1991.Albanian census 2011
However the 2011 census is disputed due to poor counting of the population and the inability to reach most citizens. A 2015 study estimated some 13,000 conversions to Christianity from Muslim backgrounds.

Census in 2023

According to the 2023 census, there were 1,101,718 (45.86%)

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, 201,530 (8.38%)

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, 173,645 (7.22%)

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

, 115,644 (4.81%) Bektashi Muslims, 9,658 (0.4%)

Evangelicals Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Christian g ...

, 3 670 (0.15%) of other religions, 332,155 (13.82%) believers without denomination, 85,311 (3.55%) Atheists and 378,782 (15.76%) did not provide an answer.

Catholic Church

The Catholic Church in Albania is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. According to the numbers given by the government in 2011 it was stated that around 10.03% of the religious population is Catholic. The Albanian census in 2023 note that 8% of Albanians are Catholic. There are five dioceses in the country, including two archdioceses plus an Apostolic Administration covering southern Albania. Prior to the Ottoman invasion, Christianity was the religion of all

Albanians The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, Albanian culture, culture, Albanian history, history and Albanian language, language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, ...

. The northern Albanians adhered to Catholicism, whilst in the south

they In Modern English, ''they'' is a third-person pronoun relating to a grammatical subject. Morphology In Standard Modern English, ''they'' has five distinct word forms: * ''they'': the nominative (subjective) form * ''them'': the accus ...

were followers of Eastern Orthodoxy.

Eastern Orthodoxy

According to the numbers given by the government in 2010 it was stated that

Eastern Orthodoxy Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

was practiced by about 20% of Albanians within Albania. In the disputed 2011 census the percentage of Orthodox believers was listed as 6.75% of the population. Albania is historically linked with both the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and Eastern Orthodoxy. Albanians were among the first peoples of the region to receive missionaries and convert to Christianity. With the split of the Church in 1054, Orthodoxy become the religion for the Albanians inhabiting the areas under the Byzantine rule. The first Orthodox liturgy in the Albanian language was held not in Albania, but in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Subsequently, when the Orthodox Church was not allowed an official existence in communist Albania, Albanian Orthodoxy survived in exile in Philadelphia with the church in Philadelphia being founded in 1913 and in Boston in 1965.

Protestantism

Figures in 2022 note that 0.45% of the population are Protestant.The Archive of Religion Data Archives website, Retrieved 2023-07-18
/ref> This is about 13,000 people. Many Protestant denominations come under the umbrella organisation, the Albanian Evangelical Alliance (VUSH).

Freedom of religion

In 2022, Albania scored 4 out of 4 for religious freedom.Freedom House website, Retrieved 202-07-18
/ref>

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Christianity in Albania