Summary

In the 17th century, Albanian Catholic archbishops, guided by the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith’s nation-based missionary strategy, helped forge the early modern concept of the Albanian nation. The earliest known Albanian Catholic references to the “Albanian nation” date to 1577, when elders of Priskë and Lezhë requested a native bishop for their diocese.

The Albanian Catholic archbishops, working according to the mission concept of the Congregation for Propaganda Fide that focused on nations, created the early modern concept of the Albanian nation from this multi-meaning medieval term in the 17th century. Aleksandar Komulović, a canon of Spalata (Split) and Tommaso Raggio, a Jesuit monk, visited the Catholic centers of northern Albania in 1584, and Marino Bizzi, Archbishop of Antivar (Tivari), in 1610.

The visitors are credited with reporting on the miserable situation of the Catholic communities in Albania and southern Serbia, especially the decline of Albanian cities, the shortage of priests, the unstoppable Islamization, and the crypto-Christianity that permeated popular religiosity.

Both visitors clearly saw the solution in increasing the number of trained priests. Komulović proposed that the Pope establish a college-type school in Skopje (Shkup), where young Balkan men preparing for the priesthood could study. Their plan was justified by the central location of Skopje, the city was not disturbed by the Turks, and the maintenance of the school would not have cost much.

The earliest statements by Albanian Catholics mentioning the Albanian nation are known from the second half of the 16th century. In 1577, the elders of Priskës and Alessio (Lezhë), in their letter to Rome for the new bishop candidate of Alessio, explicitly justified their request by stating that they supported a native of the Albanian nation.

Source

https://real.mtak.hu/111397/1/VT_2020_2_Molnar.pdf

Zamputi, 1989. vol. I. 344–345.