Albanian Orthodox Diocese of America

From OrthodoxWiki
Revision as of 23:23, January 1, 2009 by Inistea (talk | contribs) (ro)
Jump to: navigation, search
Albanian Orthodox Diocese of America
Jurisdiction Constantinople
Diocese type Diocese
Founded 1967
Current bishop Bp. Ilia
See(s) Philomelion
Headquarters Las Vegas, Nevada
Territory United States
Liturgical language(s) English, Albanian
Musical tradition Byzantine Chant
Calendar Revised Julian
Population estimate unknown
Official website

The Albanian Orthodox Diocese of America is a jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the United States. Its current leader is Bishop Ilia (Katre) of Philomelion, who lives in Las Vegas, Nevada.

After the Albanian communist government was formed in the wake of World War II and also after the destruction of the Church of Albania in 1967, Orthodox Albanians living in the diaspora (most of whom were in the US) found themselves without canonical protection. Most American Albanians formed the Albanian Orthodox Archdiocese in America, which now is a diocese of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) as its Albanian Archdiocese.

A small group of Albanian faithful in the US instead preferred to become part of the jurisdiction of Constantinople in the US and thus formed the Albanian Orthodox Diocese of America, which currently consists of two parishes, one in Chicago and the other in South Boston, Massachusetts.

The diocese is also a member of SCOBA.

External links