Christianity in Albania

Christianity in Albania was established throughout the country in 325 AD. From 1100 AD, the Byzantine Empire carried out Church missions in the area. In relation to the increasing influence of Venice, the Franciscans 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, Christianity was replaced by Islam as the majority religion in Albania during the Ottoman Empire. The 2011 population census, gives the percentages of religious affiliations with 58% Muslim, 10% Catholic, 7% Orthodox and 15% atheist or nonreligious since the fall of Communism in 1991. 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 Islam from Christian backgrounds. According to Boston University’s 2020 World Religion Database, Albania's religious affiliation is 75% Muslim, 15% Christian, 10% atheist or agnostic, and 0.1% Baha'i. Figures in 2022 note that 71% of the population are Sunni Muslim, 4.3% are Shia Muslim, 18.42% are Orthodox Christians and 17.90% are Catholic. Eastern Orthodoxy in Albania According to the numbers given by the government in 2010 it was stated that Eastern Orthodoxy 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 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.