Territorial Abbacy of Saint Mary of Grottaferrata

The Territorial Abbacy of Santa Maria of Grottaferrata is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction which administers the Byzantine Rite Abbey of Saint Mary in Grottaferrata located in Grottaferrata, Rome, Lazio, Italy. The Abbacy and its territory are stauropegic, that is, directly subordinate to a primate or synod, rather than to a local bishop. It is the only remnant of the once-flourishing traditions of Italo-Greek and Italo-Albanian Eastern Christian monasticism. It is also the only monastery of the Italian Basilian Order of Grottaferrata, (abbreviated O.S.B.I.), a religious order of the Italo-Albanian Greek Catholic Church which has played a major role in Albanian history, Albanian literature, and in the Albanian diaspora. The abbot ordinary is also the superior general of the Italian Basilian Order of Grottaferrata. Though normally led by an abbot, the Abbacy has been under the authority of Bishop (now Cardinal) Marcello Semeraro since Pope Francis named him Apostolic Administrator of the Abbacy on 4 November 2013.