Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Shkodrë-Pult

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Shkodrë-Pult is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in Albania. The archdiocese has two suffragans, the Diocese of Lezhë, and the Diocese of Sapë.

History

Historically it was known as Scutari. The first known bishop was Bassus (387).

The bishops of Scutari were at first subject to the Metropolitan of Salonica, Primate of all Illyricum, but when Justinian I transferred the primacy, they became suffragans of the archdiocese of Achrida. In the early Middle Ages Scutari was suffragan of the Archdiocese of Dioclea. From 1063 to 1886 53 bishops of Scutari are known (none to the middle of the twelfth century).

Among its bishops were:
*Francis II de Sanctis (1471-1491);
*Fra Dominicus Andrijasevic (died at Rome in 1639), theologian and philosopher, friend of Pope Gregory XV and of Pope Urban VIII;
*Dominicus II Babic (1677-1686);
*Antonius III de Nigris (1693-1702), killed in 1702 by the Turks.

In 1867 Scutari was "aeque principaliter" united with the Archdiocese of Antivari, and in this way Pope Pius IX made Scutari an archdiocese and metropolis. The first archbishop of the united diocese, Mgr. Charles Pooten, native of Teveran near Aachen, who had been Apostolic Administrator of Antivari (1834-1855), died at Scutari on 15 January, 1886.

On 23 October, 1886, the Archdiocese of Scutari was separated from that of Antivari, and remained an archdiocese and a metropolis with three suffragans: the diocese of Alessio, diocese of Sappa, and diocese of Pulati.

The ancient diocese of Ulcinium, in the territory of Scutari, was in 1571 occupied by the Turks and ceased to exist. Its bishops were suffragans of the Metropolitan of Antivari or of that of Dioclea. About the middle of the sixteenth century the ancient diocese of Suacium was forever suppressed. Other ancient sees in this territory were the diocese of Dinnastrum and diocese of Balazum. [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/Archdiocese_of_Scutari]

Ordinaries

*Luigi Ciurcia, O.F.M. † (6 Feb 1859 Succeeded - 27 Jul 1866 Appointed, Apostolic Delegate to Egypt, Arab Republic of)
*Karl Pooten † (15 Mar 1867 Appointed - 1886 Died)
*Pasquale Guerini † (23 Nov 1886 Appointed - 1910 Retired)
*Giacomo Sereggi † (14 Apr 1910 Appointed - 1921 Resigned)
*Lazare Miedia (Mjeda) † (19 Oct 1921 Appointed - 8 Jul 1935 Died)
*Gaspare Thaci † (27 Jan 1936 Appointed - 25 May 1946 Died)
*Franco Illia † (25 Dec 1992 Appointed - 22 Oct 1997 Died)
*Angelo Massafra, O.F.M. (28 Mar 1998 Appointed - )

References

* [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dshko.html "Catholic Hierarchy" page]