ALESSIO, DIOCESI di. — The Turkish invasion turned this very ancient Albanian diocese (14th century) into a true mission territory. As early as 1240, the Franciscans possessed a convent there. Pastoral care subsequently passed to the secular clergy. When the Franciscans returned in 1634, they settled especially in the northern part. The Franciscan mission, governed by a superior with the faculties of an apostolic prefect, granted by the S. Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, became a regular province
in 1906. It was formerly a suffragan of Antivari, and later of Scutari (22 April 1887).
Area of the territory: 280 sq km; total population: 10,315, of whom 9,750 were Catholics, including 2,200 foreigners; Muslims, 560 (1941 census). There was an elementary school (155 pupils), directed by the Ancelle della Carità.