Albanian Orthodox Diocese of America

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

• Albanian Orthodox Diocese at the website of the GOA
• Eastern Christian Churches: Albanian Orthodox Diocese of America, by Ronald Roberson, a Roman Catholic priest and scholar
• Albanian Orthodox Library