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, compose the Catholic Church. It is an autonomous (sui juris) particular church in full communion with the Pope of Rome, directly subject to the Roman Congregation for the Oriental Churches, but which follows the Byzantine Rite, the ritual and spiritual traditions that are common in most of the Eastern Orthodox 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 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 and the Morea (Peloponnese). For over five centuries, they have managed, as a diaspora, to retain their language, culture, customs and beliefs. Nowadays, they reside primarily in Southern Italy (Abruzzo, Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria) and in Sicily, as well as in Central Italy, where they are present only in the Monastery of Grottaferrata in the Lazio region. The Church also operates among the Italo-Albanian diaspora in North and South America. It has about 80,000 faithful. It does not have a metropolitan, but is instead led by two eparchs and a territorial abbot.

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 Apostolic See of Rome is a rare testimony - another example being the Maronites - of the persistent unity of the Church despite its diversity of traditions.