The Albanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church headed by the Archbishop of Tirana, Albania, Anastasios. It has about 650,000 members in Albania and about 45,000 in related churches in the United States. Its faithful in Albanians include Tosk ethnic Albanians, ethnic Greeks, Serbs, Vlachs and other Slavs.

History

The Orthodox Christians of Albania were under the Authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople from the 7th century to the 11th century, when most of the Orthodox Christians in what is now Albania came under the Ohrid Archbishopric. After the Ottoman conquest of Albania and the Balkans, the Orthodox Christians in the European part of the empire were placed under the Patriarch of Constantinople. Albania became politically independent of the Ottoman Empire in 1912, and the Albanian Orthodox church proclaimed its Autocephaly in 1922, which was recognized by the Patriarch of Constantinople in 1937.

See also

• Albanian Catholic Church

External links

• Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania (http://www.orthodoxalbania.org) (Macromedia Flash only)