Italo-Albanian Catholic Church
eastern Catholic particular church which uses the Byzantine Rite
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 members.
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.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Italo-Albanian Catholic Church” as eastern Catholic particular church which uses the Byzantine Rite. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as eastern Catholic particular church which uses the Byzantine Rite. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q846093. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Three-step research path
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This entry incorporates text from “Italo-Albanian Catholic Church” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.