Diocese of Lezha
| Diocese of Lezha | |
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Country | Albania |
| Metropolitan bishopric | Archdiocese of Shkodra-Pult |
| Diocesan bishop | Ottavio Vitale RCJ |
| Vicar General | Luigi Cattazzo OFM |
| founding | 7th century |
| surface | 750 km² |
| Parishes | 12 (2016 / AP 2017 ) |
| Residents | 121,700 (2016 / AP 2017 ) |
| Catholics | 86,300 (2016 / AP 2017 ) |
| proportion of | 70.9% |
| Diocesan priest | 4 (2016 / AP 2017 ) |
| Religious priest | 14 (2016 / AP 2017 ) |
| Catholics per priest | 4,794 |
| Friars | 20 (2016 / AP 2017 ) |
| Religious sisters | 54 (2016 / AP 2017 ) |
| rite | Roman rite |
| Liturgical language | Albanian |
| cathedral | Shën Nikolla |
| address | Ipeshkvnia Rruga e Kalasë Ish Dega Ustarake Lezhë Shqipëria |
The diocese of Lezha ( lat. : Dioecesis Alexiensis ) is in Albania located Catholic Diocese . The area of the diocese includes the coastal areas north and south of the episcopal city of Lezha .
history
Only one bishop of Lissus is documented for the period of late antiquity. In 592 a certain John was given a diocese in Italy after his bishopric, Lissus, was overrun by the barbarians (probably the Slavs). The diocese probably perished during this time and was only rebuilt centuries later.
The next mention of a bishop of Lezha falls in the 14th century. At least since then, Lezha was a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Shkodra-Pult . In the second half of the 15th century, the area of the diocese was conquered by the Ottomans; the bishopric of Lezha finally came under the rule of the Turks in 1506 from the possession of the Venetians. The next two centuries were a period of decline for Christianity; the majority of the population accepted Islam. The bishopric of Lezha was mostly occupied by foreigners until the middle of the 17th century and the bishops lived mostly in Italian exile. Since the beginning of the 18th century, the papal propaganda Fide tried harder to support the remaining Albanian Catholics and to reorganize the church structures in the country. Antonio Criesesi (alb. Kryezezi), a Franciscan priest trained at the Roman College of the Propaganda Congregation, became Bishop of Lezha in 1750. Three years later he provided a comprehensive report on the conditions in his diocese.
1888 divided Pope Leo XIII. the Alexander monastery in Orosh with five parishes from the diocese of Lezha and raised it to the territorial abbey. By 1894 the remaining seven parishes of the Mirdita of Lezha were also ceded to Orosh.
The Franciscan Frano Gjini became Bishop of Lezha in early 1946 after the Communists had taken power in Albania shortly before. At the same time a delegate of the Holy See, he was one of Albania's ecclesiastical dignitaries who fell victim to the first wave of persecution by the communist regime. He was arrested for alleged conspiracy with foreign powers, convicted in a show trial, and shot in March 1948. After that, the bishopric of Lezha remained vacant for over 50 years. In 1967 all of the remaining churches in the diocese were closed, destroyed or used for profane purposes by the communist authorities.
After the re-admission of religions in Albania in 1990, Pope John Paul II reestablished the diocese and in 2000 appointed Father Ottavio Vitale RCJ as Apostolic Administrator . This was then on November 23, 2005 by Pope Benedict XVI. raised to bishop of Lezha.
Bishops
literature
- Peter Bartl: The diocese of Alessio during the Turkish period as reflected in the spiritual visitation reports. In: Krishtërimi ndër Shqiptarë. Simpozium Ndërkombëtar Tiranë, pp. 16-19 Nëntor 1999. Shkodër 2000. pp. 235-249.
- Peter Bartl (Ed.): Albania Sacra. Spiritual visitation reports from Albania. Vol. 1: Diocese of Alessio. Wiesbaden 2007. ISBN 978-3-447-05506-2
- Gjush Sheldija Shënime historike rreth dioqezës së Lezhës ( notes on the history of the Diocese of Lezha ). In: Kryeipeshkvia Metropolitane e Shkodrës dhe Dioqezat Sufragane. (Manuscript around 1958)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Peter Bartl: The church conditions in Turkish Albania. A spiritual visitation report about the diocese of Alessio from 1753. (On the website of the Albanian Institute St. Gallen) (PDF file; 91 kB)
- ↑ Peter Bartl: The Abbey of St. Alexander in the Mirdita according to the reports of their abbot Prenk Doçi from the years 1888-1896. In: Münchner Zeitschrift für Balkankunde, Volume 10 a. 11, Munich 1996, pp. 7-83.
- ^ The servant of God Mons. Frano M. Gjini, Bishop. (Website of the Archdiocese of Shkodra)