Italo-Albanian Catholic Church
Italo-Albanian Catholic Church | |
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Congregation for the Oriental Churches | |
Region | Southern Italy, Sicily, Lazio; United States (diaspora) |
Liturgy | Byzantine Rite |
Origin | 10 June 1732: Ordinariate of the Italo-Albanians of the Byzantine rite of Calabria appointed[2] |
Branched from | Catholic Church |
Congregations | 45 |
Ministers | 82 priests, 5 deacons[3] |
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The Italo-Albanian Catholic Church
The Italo-Albanian Catholic Church extends its jurisdiction over the
The Italo-Albanian Catholic Church considers itself the heir of the traditional Illyricum Church[
Name
The
The Italo-Albanian Catholic Church is therefore characterized by a specific ethnic group: the Albanians of Italy, Arbëreshë or Italo-Albanesi. The Albanian ethno-linguistic group of Italy has managed to maintain its identity, having in the clergy the strongest guardian and the fulcrum of ethnic identification.
The only place where the Byzantine Rite remained in Italy was the Monastery of Grottaferrata, an Italo-Greek foundation, which had become steadily latinized through the centuries. The Albanians of Sicily and Calabria, from the eighteenth to the present, were bringing the monastery back to life, where most of its monks, abbots and students were and are Italo-Albanian.[10]
History
Byzantine period
The conquest of Italy by the Byzantine Empire in the Gothic War (535–554) began a Byzantine period that included the Byzantine domination of the papacy from 537 to 752.
It is uncertain whether the Byzantine Rite was followed in any diocese of Southern Italy or Sicily before the 8th century. The spread of Greek monasticism in Italy received a strong impulse from the
When, in 726,
Re-Latinization
The restoration of the Roman Rite began with the
Important Greek colonies, founded chiefly for commercial reasons, were located at Venice, Ancona (where they obtained from Clement VII and Paul III the church of S. Anna, which they lost in 1833, having been declared schismatical in 1797), Bari, Lecce (where, even in the 19th century, in the church of S. Nicola, Divine worship was carried on in the Greek tongue, though in the Roman Rite), Naples (where they have the church of SS. Pietro e Paolo, erected in 1526 by Tommaso Paleologo Assagni), Leghorn (where they have the church of the Annunziata, 1607).[10]
In Rome there was always a large colony observing the Greek Rite. From the end of the 6th century until the ninth and tenth there were several Greek monasteries among which were Cella Nova, near S. Saba; S. Erasmo; San Silvestro in Capite; the monastery next to Santa Maria Antiqua at the foot of the Palatine. Like other nations, the Greeks before the year 1000 had their own schola at Rome. It was near the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin. Even in the pontifical liturgy - at least on some occasions - a few of the chanted passages were in Greek: the custom of singing the Epistle and Gospel in both Latin and Greek dates from that period.[10]
Albanian influx
Besides the first large emigration of Albanians which took place between 1467 and 1470, after the death of the celebrated
To educate the clergy of these Greeks, Pope Gregory XIII founded in 1577 at Rome the Greek College of St. Athanasius, which served also for the Greek Catholics of the East and for the Ruthenians, until a special college was instituted for the latter purpose by Pope Leo XIII. Among the alumni of St. Athanasius was the celebrated Leo Allatius. Another Greek-Byzantine ecclesiastical college was founded at Piana degli Albanesi in 1715 by P. Giorgio Guzzetta, founder of an Oratory of celibate Greek-Byzantine clergy. At Firmo the seminary of SS. Pietro e Paolo existed from 1663, erected by the Propaganda to supply priests for Albania. It was suppressed in 1746. Finally Pope Clement XII, in 1736, founded the Corsini College in the ancient Abbey of San Benedetto Ullano in the charge of a resident bishop or archbishop of the Greek Rite. Later it was transferred in 1794 to San Demetrio Corone, in the ancient Basilian monastery of S. Adriano. Since 1849, however, and especially since 1860, this college has lost its ecclesiastical character and is now secularized.[10]
Seminaries for the Albanians of Italy were set up in San Benedetto Ullano, and then in San Demetrio Corone, (Calabria) in 1732 and in Palermo, Sicily, in 1734.[11]
Ecclesiastical status
Until 1919, the Italo-Greeks were subject to the jurisdiction of the Latin diocesan bishops. However, the popes at times appointed a
Sui juris
On 6 February 1784, the pre-diocesan ordinariate of the Albanians in Sicily was created, with Bishop Papàs Giorgio Stassi, titular Bishop of Lampsacus, first holding that position.[2]
By 1909, another Ordinary for the Greeks of Calabria was residing at Naples.[10]
The 20th century saw the foundation in 1919 of the
In 2004 and 2005, a second inter-eparchial synod was held in three sessions approving 10 documents for "the synod’s theological and pastoral context, the use of Scripture, catechesis, liturgy, formation of clergy, canon law, ecumenical and interreligious relations, relations with other Eastern Catholic Churches, re-evangelization and mission." They were submitted to the Holy See and were still in dialogue as of mid-2007 in regards to their promulgation.[14]
Organisation
There are three ecclesiastical jurisdictions composing the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church:
- Eparchy of Lungro degli Italo-Albanesi
- Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi
- Territorial Abbacy of Santa Maria of Grottaferrata[15]
The eparchies themselves have not been organized as a Metropolitan church, and remain on an equal footing, directly subject to the Holy See.[2][12][13] These eparchies allow the ordination of married men as priests, and they also govern a few Latin Church parishes within the respective territories of the eparchies.
As of 2010, the church's membership was estimated at approximately 61,000 faithful, with two bishops, 45 parishes, 82 priests, 5 deacons, and 207 religious brothers and sisters.[3]
In the church there are the following religious institutions: the Italo-Albanian Basilian Monks Order of Grottaferrata (present in Lazio, Calabria and Sicily), the Suore Collegine della Sacra Famiglia, and the congregation of the Italo-Albanian Basilian Sisters Figlie di Santa Macrina (present in Sicily, Calabria, Albania and Kosovo).
Italo-Albanian communities were formed in the cities of Milan, Turin, Rome, Naples, Bari, Lecce, Crotone, Cosenza and Palermo, as well as in Switzerland, Germany, the United States, Canada, Argentina and Brazil. They depend, however, on Latin dioceses and only in some cases is the Byzantine liturgy celebrated. Over the centuries, albeit limited, there have been religious contacts between Albanians of Italy with the Christian East (monasteries of Crete) and Albania (Archdiocese of Shkodër, Durrës, Himarë). Important spiritual and cultural contributions have been made by the monks and hieromonks at the Abbey of Saint Mary of Grottaferrata.
Outside of Italy, there are some diaspora communities Italo-Albanian organized in religious associations and parishes.
In the United States, some Italo-Albanian Catholic parishes fall under non-Italo-Albanian episcopal authorities. For example, the Italo-Greek Church of Our Lady of Wisdom in
See also
- Albanian Greek Catholic Church
- Arbëreshë people
- Byzantine Rite
- Eastern Catholic Churches
- Pontifical Greek College of Saint Athanasius
Further reading
- Pietro Pompilio Rodota, Dell'Origine Progresso, E Stato Presente Del Rito Greco In Italia: Osservato dai Greci Monaci Basiliani e Albanesi, Roma 1763.
- Fortescue, Adrian. The Uniate Eastern Churches: the Byzantine Rite in Italy, Sicily, Syria and Egypt. Ed. George D. Smith. New York: F. Ungar, 1923. Print.
- Ciro Pinnola, La S. Liturgia Greca di S. Giovanni Crisostomo. Canti tradizionali delle Colonie Italo-Greco-Albanesi, Sac. Carlo Rossini, J. Fischer & Bro., New York, Printed in Germany 1923.
- Nilo Borgia, I Monaci Basiliani D'Italia in Albania: Appunti Di Storia Missionaria, Secoli XVI-XVIII, Periodo Secondo, Reale Accademia d'Italia, 1942.
- Oriente Cattolico (Vatican City: The Sacred Congregation for the Eastern Churches, 1974).
- Ines Angeli Murzaku, Returning home to Rome: the Basilian monks of Grottaferrata in Albania, Grottaferrata 2009. ISBN 9788889345047.
- Italo-Albanian Catholicism
- OC Oriente Cristiano - Storico quadrimestrale dell’Eparchia di Piana degli Albanesi
Notes
References
- ^ Chronology of Catholic Dioceses:The Italo-Albanian Catholic Church
- ^ a b c d e "Diocese of Piana degli Abanesi". GCatholic.org. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
- ^ a b Ronald Roberson. "The Eastern Catholic Churches 2010" (PDF). Catholic Near East Welfare Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2010. Information sourced from Annuario Pontificio 2010 edition
- ^ "Italo-Albanese Catholic Church of the Byzantine Tradition". catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
- ^ "Italo-Albanese Church. Eastern-Rite sui juris Catholic Church. Italy : Lungro, Piana degli Albanesi, Santa Maria di Grottaferrata". gcatholic.org. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
- ^ G. Cimbalo, Conference “Cultural bridges between Himara and the Arbëresh diaspora during the 16th and 18th centuries”, Vlora (Albania), 10-11 November, 2015.
- ^ Centro Internazionale di Studi sul Mito (Delegazione Sicilia), Tavola Rotonda sugli Arbëreshë: "Shqiptarë nga gjuha Bizantinë nga riti kishtar Italjanë nga adoptimi: Arbëreshët - Albanesi per lingua Bizantini per rito Italiani per adozione: gli Arbëreshë", Palermo 2015.
- ^ Considerations of the visits of the Orthodox Church of Albania (1940), of Greece (1973) and of the Patriarchate of Constantinople (2019) to the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church.
- ^ Ines Angjeli Murzak, Returning Home to Rome: The Basilian Monks of Grottaferrata in Albania, Grottaferrata 2009
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. .
- ^ a b Roberson, Ronald G. "The Italo-Albanian Catholic Church. Page 1". The Eastern Christian Churches: A Brief Survey. Catholic Near East Welfare Association. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
- ^ a b "Diocese of Lungro". GCatholic.orgs. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
- ^ a b "Territorial Abbacy of Santa Maria di Grottaferrata". GCatholic.orgs. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
- ^ a b Roberson, Ronald G. "The Italo-Albanian Catholic Church. Page 2". The Eastern Christian Churches: A Brief Survey. Catholic Near East Welfare Association. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
- ^ "Italo-Albanese Church". GCatholic.orgs. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
- ^ "Our Lady of Wisdom Italo-Greek Byzantine". Eastern & Oriental Catholic Directory. ByzCath.org. Archived from the original on 3 June 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
- ^ "Our Lady of Grace Greek-Catholic Mission & Society (Italo-Graeco-Albanian)". Eastern & Oriental Catholic Directory. byzcath.org. Archived from the original on 3 June 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2011.