Christianity had come to the Illyrian-populated lands in the first century CE.

Saint Paul wrote that he preached in the Roman province of Illyricum, and legend holds that he visited Durrës.

When the Roman Empire was divided into eastern and western halves in CE 395, the lands that now make up Albania were administered by the Eastern Empire but were ecclesiastically dependent on Rome.

In 732, however, Emperor Leo the Isaurian subordinates the area to the patriarchate of Constantinople.

For centuries hereafter, the Albanian lands will be an arena for the eccesiastical struggle between Rome and Constantinople.

Most Albanians living in the mountainous north will become Roman Catholic, whereas in the southern and central regions the majority will become Orthodox.