Eastern Rite - Italo-Albanian Catholic Church

Today is the Feasts of the Venerable Hieromartyr Babylas of Sicily and his two disciples, Holy Martyrs Timothy and Agapius, and the Holy Martyrs Saint Saint Xenia the Righteous of Rome and her two female slaves

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The Italo-Albanian Catholic Church (Latin: Ecclesiae Catholico Italo-Albanica; Italian: Chiesa cattolica Italo-Albanese; Albanian: Kisha Katolike Italo-Shqiptare), Italo-Albanian Byzantine Catholic Church or Italo-Albanian Church, is one of the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches which, together with the Latin Church, compose the Catholic Church. It is a particular church that is autonomous (sui juris), using the Byzantine Rite and the Koine Greek language (the language that was the principal of all peoples in the tradition of the Eastern Churches) or the Albanian language (the mother language of the community) for the liturgy, whose Italo-Albanian (Arbëreshë) members are concentrated in Southern Italy (Abruzzo, Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria), and Sicily.

The Italo-Albanian Church is in full communion with the Pope of Rome, directly subject to the Roman Congregation for the Oriental Churches, but follows the ritual and spiritual traditions that are common in most of the other Eastern Churches. Church members are the descendants of the exiled Albanians who fled to Italy in the 15th century under the pressure of the Turkish persecutions in Albania and the territories inhabited by Albanians in the Balkans and the Peloponnese. The Albanian population in Italy has maintained until today the language, customs and religious rites of their origin. This Church maintains the heritage, the ethnic, cultural and religious tradition of its Albanians ancestors, keeping alive the spiritual and liturgical tradition of the Eastern Church from the time of Justinian (6th century).

There are three ecclesiastical jurisdictions composing the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church. The eparchies themselves have not been organized as a Metropolitan church, and remain on an equal footing, directly subject to the Holy See. These eparchies also govern a few Latin Church parishes within the respective territories of the eparchies. They are:

• Eparchy of Lungro degli Italo-Albanesi, with the Bishop and 44 Diocesan Priests serving 29 Parishes and 32,800 Catholics (99.7% of the total population of the Eparchy)
• Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi, with the Bishop and 24 Diocesan Priests serving 15 Parishes and 23,000 Catholics (94.9% of the total population of the Eparchy).
• Territorial Abbacy of Santa Maria of Grottaferrata, with an Apostolic Administrator, Marcello, Cardinal Semeraro, and nine Religious Priests serving one Parish and 12 Catholics (100% of the population of the Abbacy).