Yet,
the Slavs maintain that Saint Jeronim was a Croat and have understandably
been proud of him. But here ís the issue: where was Saint
Jeronim from? Were there any Croats living at that time in Dalmacia?
Which peoples lived in Dalmatia? Illyrians were the ones living
in Dalmatia back then, a historical fact that proves Saint Jeronim
was Illyrian.
Among
those saints, about whom little is mentioned, is Saint Eleutherius,
one of the predecessors of other Albanian Popes, and one of
those renowned personages who contributed to the spread of Christianity,
not only among Albanians, but throughout the entire European
continent.
Hundreds
of bishops from Illyria participated in the first Synod of Rome
established in 130 A.D. This fact provides evidence to the existence
of a well-organized church administration in Illyria during
the 2nd century. The first elements of the church that constitute
the foundations of Christian doctrine, the first seven ecumenical
codes, are from llyrian territories (llyria was once called
" The Island of Saints"). This is the best evidence
of the contributions that Albanians have made to European civilization.
Saint
Eleutherius was born a hundred years after Christ in the town
of Nikopol, a well-known town in Epirus. Some archeologists
maintain that this is the present town of Preveza. He was educated
in Rome under Pope Saint Aciteti (whose papacy lasted 11 years,
from 157-168) where he received Holy Orders. In 177 AD, Saint
Eleutherius was appointed Pope and assumed the Holy Seat at
Saint Peter's. During his papacy, Saint Eleutherius spread the
Bible to many countries of the Roman Empire. Based on existing
data, after the beseechment of Lucas who was the King of England,
Saint Eleutherius sent missionaries to preach Christianity --
the faith that civilized European nations and which remain predominant
there to the present day.
In
192 AD, after 15 years of his papacy, Saint Eleutherius was
martyred by idolaters of Rome. Attempts by others to claim Saint
Elutherius and Saint Jeronim as their own are numerous. In reality,
Saint Eleutherius is neither Greek nor Roman as some historians
contend. He is clearly an Illyrian predecessor of Albanians,
born and raised in Epirus, a territory that lies from the Vjosa
River to the Ambraky Bay in the south, from the Pindus Mountains
in the east up to the Ionian seacoast in the west, a territory
ruled by King Pirros in 277 BC. In one of Gjergj Kastrioti's
(Skenderbeg) correspondences written in Kruja in 1460 to the
prince of Taranto, he states, among other things, "We the
Albanians are being called Epiriots."
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