In 1700, the Papacy passed to Pope Clement XI, who was himself of Albanian-Italian origins and held great interest in the welfare of his Catholic Albanian kinsmen, known for composing the Illyricum sacrum. In 1703 he convened the Albanian Council ("Kuvendi i Arbënit") in order to organize methods to prevent further apostacy in Albania, and preserve the existence of Catholicism in the land. The widespread survival of Catholicism in northern Albania is largely attributable to the activity of the Franciscan order in the area