Italo-Albanian Catholic Church

Territorial Abbacy of Saint Mary of Grottaferrata Beatissimæ Mariæ Cryptæferratæ Santa Maria di Grottaferrata
Cathedral of Exarchial Monastery of St. Mary of Grottaferrata
Location
Country	Italy
Ecclesiastical province	Holy See
Statistics
Parishes	1
Churches	1
Schools	1
Members	87
Information
Denomination	Italo-Albanian Catholic Church
Rite	Byzantine Rite
Established	1937
Cathedral	Exarchial Monastery of St. Mary of Grottaferrata
Patron saint	Nilo da Rossano
Secular priests	10
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Abbot Ordinary	Sede Vacante
Apostolic Administrator	Marcello Semeraro
Emeritus Bishops	Emiliano Fabbricatore
Website
abbaziagreca.it

The Italo-Albanian Greek Catholic Church (Italian: Chiesa bizantina cattolica in Italia; Albanian: Kisha Bizantine Arbëreshe), also referred to as the Italo-Byzantine Catholic Church and other variants, 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 in the Albanian language or Greek language, whose members are concentrated in Southern Italy (Calabria, Basilicata, Abruzzo, Apulia) and Sicily.

The Italo-Albanian Church is in communion with the Pope of Rome, directly subject to the Roman Congregation for the Oriental Churches ,and then to the Catholic Church, but follows the ritual and spiritual traditions that are common in most of the Orthodox Church. Church members are the descendants of the exiled Albanians who fled to Italy in the fifteenth 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 defends their heritage, the ethnic, cultural and religious tradition of the Albanians fathers, keeping alive the spiritual and liturgical tradition of the Eastern Church from the time of Justinian (sixth century). This church, a Byzantine oasis in the Latin West, the only remaining in Italy, is securely inclined to ecumenism between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.