The Church in Albania: From Ottoman Empire to Communism to? - The Irish Family

An old Albanian saw goes as follows: 'Where the sword is, there lies

religion' . Thus, under the long years of Ottoman rule, up to 70% of

Albanians converted to Islam, escaping the onerous taxes and dhimmitude

second-class citizenship imposed on non-Muslims. Before then, Albania's

strategic location on the marches between western and eastern Christianity

saw its people divide into largely northern Catholics and southern

Orthodox.