Albania is a secular and religiously diverse country with no official religion. The constitution guarantees freedom of religion, belief and conscience. In the 2023 census, Islam was the largest religious affiliation in Albania, forming the narrow absolute majority with around 51% of the population. Most of them are Sunni Muslims, with a minority of Bektashians. Christianity was the second-largest religion at around 16%, including Catholics (mainly in the north), Eastern Orthodox (mainly in the south) and Evangelicals. About 14% of Albanians identified as believers without denomination, 4% irreligious (Atheists), while around 16% refused to answer the question about belief - all of those are mainly found in the south. However, religious practice is low even among those who identify with a religion: a 2018 survey by the UNDP found that 62.7% of respondents said they do not actively practice religion, while 37.3% said they do.
Albania has been a secular state since 1912 and thus and currently according to the constitution, the state has to be "neutral in questions of belief and conscience": The former socialist government started the anti-religious campaign in 1967 and declared Albania the world's first constitutionally "atheist state" in 1976 in which believers faced harsh punishments, and many clergymen were killed. Nowadays religious observance and practice is generally lax, and polls have shown that, compared to the populations of other countries, few Albanians consider religion to be a dominant factor in their lives. When asked about religion, people generally refer to their family's historical religious legacy and not to their own choice of faith.
History
Antiquity
Christianity spread to urban centers in the region of Albania, at the time composed mostly Epirus Nova and part of south Illyricum, during the later period of Roman era and reached the region relatively early. St. Paul preached the Gospel 'even unto Illyricum' (Romans 15:19). Schnabel asserts that Paul probably preached in Shkodra and Durrës.Schnabel, Sckhard. Paul the Missionary: Realities, Strategies, and Methods. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2008. p. 113. The steady growth of the Christian community in Dyrrhachium (the Roman name for Epidamnus) led to the creation of a local bishopric in 58 AD. Later, episcopal seats were established in Apollonia, Buthrotum (modern Butrint), and Scodra (modern Shkodra).
One notable Martyr was Saint Astius, who was Bishop of Dyrrachium, who was crucified during the persecution of Christians by the Roman Emperor Trajan. Saint Eleutherius (not to be confused with the later Saint-Pope) was bishop of Messina and Illyria. He was martyred along with his mother Anthia during the anti-Christian campaign of Hadrian.
From the 2nd to the 4th centuries, the main language used to spread the Christian religion was Latin,Lloshi p.92 whereas in the 4th to the 5th centuries it was Greek in Epirus and Macedonia and Latin in Praevalitana and Dardania. Christianity spread to the region during the 4th century, however the Bible cites in Romans that Christianity was spread in the first century. The following centuries saw the erection of characteristic examples of Byzantine architecture such as the churches in Kosine, Mborje and Apollonia.
Christian bishops from what would later become eastern Albania took part in the First Council of Nicaea. Arianism had at that point extended to Illyria, where Arius himself had been exiled to by Constantine. Middle Ages
Since the early 4th century AD, Christianity had become the established religion in the Roman Empire, supplanting pagan polytheism and eclipsing for the most part the humanistic world outlook and institutions inherited from the Greek and Roman civilizations. Ecclesiastical records during the Slavic invasions are slim. Though the country was in the fold of Byzantium, Christians in the region remained under the jurisdiction of the Roman pope until 732. In that year the iconoclast Byzantine emperor Leo III, angered by archbishops of the region because they had supported Rome in the Iconoclastic Controversy, detached the church of the province from the Roman pope and placed it under the patriarch of Constantinople. When the East-West schism separated the Western Christianity from Greek Christianity, southern Albanian regions retained their ties to Constantinople while the northern areas reverted to the jurisdiction of Rome.
The Albanians first appear in the historical record in Byzantine sources of the 11th century. At this point, they are already fully Christianized. Most Albanian regions belonged to the Eastern Orthodox Church after the schism, but regional Albanian populations gradually became Catholic to secure their independence from various Orthodox political entities and conversions to Catholicism would be especially notable under the aegis of the Kingdom of Albania. Flirtations with conversions to Catholicism in Central Albanian Principality of Arbanon are reported in the later 12th century, but until 1204 Central and Southern Albanians (in Epirus Nova) remained mostly Orthodox despite the growing Catholic influence in the north and were often linked to ByzantineOsswald, Brendan. "The Ethnic Composition of Medieval Epirus". Page 133 and Bulgarian state entitiesZhelyazkova, Antonina. Albanian Identities. Page 3 Krujë, however, became an important center for the spread of Catholicism. Its bishopric had been Catholic since 1167. It was under direct dependence from the pope and it was the pope himself who consecrated the bishop.Lala (2008), p. 157 Local Albanian nobles maintained good relations with the Papacy. Its influence became so great, that it began to nominate local bishops. The Archbishopric of Durrës, one of the primary bishoprics in Albania had initially remained under the authority of Eastern Orthodox Church after the split despite continuous, but fruitless efforts from Rome to convert it to the Latin Church.
After the Fourth Crusade
However, things changed after the fall of Byzantine Empire in 1204. In 1208, a Catholic archdeacon was elected for the archbishopric of Durrës. After the reconquest of Durrës by the Despotate of Epirus in 1214, the Latin Archbishop of Durrës was replaced by an Orthodox archbishop.Lala (2008), p. 54-55 According to Etleva Lala, on the edge of the Albanian line in the north was Prizren, which was also an Orthodox bishopric albeit with some Catholic parochial churches,Acta Albaniae I, no 74 in 1372 received a Catholic bishop due to close relations between the Balsha family and the Papacy.Lala(2008). Regnum Albaniae. Page 153: "the town of Prizren, which was also an Orthodox bishopric with some catholic parochial churches until then... received a real catholic bishop (1372) as a result of the good connections between Balsha and Rome"
After the Fourth Crusade, a new wave of Catholic dioceses, churches and monasteries were founded, a number of different religious orders began spreading into the country, and papal missionaries traversed its territories. Those who were not Catholic in Central and North Albania converted and a great number of Albanian clerics and monks were present in the Dalmatian Catholic institutions.Lala (2008), p. 146 The creation of the Kingdom of Albania in 1272, with links to and influence from Western Europe, meant that a decidedly Catholic political structure had emerged, facilitating the further spread of Catholicism in the Balkans. Durrës became again a Catholic archbishopric in 1272. Other territories of the Kingdom of Albania became Catholic centers as well. Butrint in the south, although dependent on Corfu, became Catholic and remained as such during the 14th century. The bishopric of Vlore also converted immediately following the founding of the Kingdom of Albania.Lala (2008), p. 147-148 Around 30 Catholic churches and monasteries were built during the rule of Helen of Anjou, as Queen consort of the Serbian Kingdom, in North Albania and in Serbia.Lala (2008), p. 91-95 New bishoprics were created especially in North Albania, with the help of Helen.Lala (2008) p. 155 As Catholic power in the Balkans expanded with Albania as a stronghold, Catholic structures began appearing as far afield as Skopje (which was a mostly Serbian Orthodoxy city at the timeLala, Etleva. Regnum Albaniae. Page 153) in 1326, with the election of the local bishop there being presided upon by the Pope himself;Lala, Etleva. Regnum Albaniae. Page 74 in the following year, 1327, Skopje sees a Dominican appointed.
However, in Durrës the Byzantine Rite continued to exist for a while after Angevin conquest. This double-line of authority created some confusion in the local population and a contemporary visitor of the country described Albanians as nor they are entirely Catholic or entirely schismatic. In order to fight this religious ambiguity, in 1304, Dominicans were ordered by Pope Benedict XI to enter the country and to instruct the locals in the Latin liturgical rites. Dominican priests were also ordered as bishops in Vlorë and Butrint.Lala (2008), p. 149-153