Catholic Church in Italy

St Peter's Basilica and Vatican City, in Rome

Christianity arrived on the Italian peninsula in the first century, probably by unknown travelers, traders or soldiers. The Letter to the Romans of Paul the Apostle is addressed and attests to the presence of Roman Christians in the first century. Christians in Rome were also in touch with St. Peter and St. Paul the Apostle, both of whom went to Rome on mission and were eventually martyred there. One of the first Italian bishops and popes was Clement of Rome who wrote a letter to the Christian community in Corinth (1 Clement) around AD 96.

Over its two thousand-year history, the Church of Italy grew in size and influence producing and harboring (sometimes before martyrdom) some of the greatest leaders and movers of Catholic Christianity including Priscilla and Aquila; Ignatius of Antioch, martyred in Rome; Polycarp, martyred in Rome and a disciple of John the Evangelist; Agnes, Roman martyr; Lawrence, martyr; Justin Martyr, teacher and martyr; Hippolytus, priest and martyr; Cecilia, Roman martyr; Ambrose of Milan, bishop and Doctor of the Church; Jerome, theologian and Doctor of the Church; Benedict of Nursia, founder of the Benedictine order and of Western monasticism; Leo the Great, bishop of Rome and Doctor of the Church; Gregory the Great, bishop of Rome and Doctor of the Church; Augustine of Canterbury, Roman monk, Benedictine missionary to England, later English bishop; Urban II, pope or Bishop of Rome who called for the First Crusade; Anselm of Canterbury, Italian-born philosopher, Doctor of the Church and later English bishop; Francis of Assisi, mystic and founder of the Franciscans; Bonaventure of Bagnorea, Franciscan theologian and Doctor of the Church; Thomas Aquinas, Dominican theologian, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church; Dante, poet; Catherine of Siena, mystic, reformer, and Doctor of the Church; Monteverdi, composer; Robert Bellarmine of Tuscany, Jesuit theologian and Doctor of the Church; Antonio Vivaldi, priest and composer; Leo XIII, bishop of Rome and social reformer; Pius XII, bishop of Rome; John XXIII, bishop of Rome and initiator of Second Vatican Council, among many others. One could add to this list the founders of various contemporary lay ecclesial movements, notably Luigi Giussani, founder of Communion And Liberation, and Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare Movement. Also, Andrea Riccardi, founder of the Community of Sant'Egidio, now one of the great faith based organizations in the world.

Around 80% of the Italian population is Catholic. Italy has 225 dioceses and archdioceses, more than any other country in the world with the exception of Brazil. It also has the largest number of parishes (25,694), female (102,089) and male (23,719) religious, and priests (44,906 including secular (i.e. diocesan) and religious (those belonging to a male religious institute)).

The bishops in Italy make up the Conferenza Episcopale Italiana as a collaborative body to perform certain functions specified by Canon Law. Unlike most episcopal conferences, the president of the Italian conference is appointed by the pope, is his capacity as Primate of Italy. Since May 2017, the president of the episcopal conference has been Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti.

Organization

Map of the 16 Italian ecclesiastical regions

The Primate of Italy is the Bishop of Rome, who is also ex officio Pope of the Catholic Church. The Apostolic Nuncio to Italy is also the nuncio to San Marino; the incumbent is Italian Archbishop Giuseppe Bertello, who has held the office since January 2007.

There are two Catholic particular churches in Italy:

• The Latin Church (absolute majority, uses Roman rite except in the Archdiocese of Milan where Ambrosian rite is used).
• The very small Italo-Albanian Catholic Church (one of Eastern Catholic Churches, uses Byzantine rite) divided into Territorial Abbacy of Saint Mary of Grottaferrata, Eparchy of Lungro and Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi.

The Latin Church in Italy is organized into:

• 16 ecclesiastical regions (corresponding to the regions of Italy, with some consolidations).
  • 42 ecclesiastical provinces divided into:
    • 1 apostolic see (Diocese of Rome).
    • 1 patriarchal see (Patriarchate of Venice).
    • 40 metropolitan archdioceses.
    • 20 archdioceses.
    • 155 dioceses (see: List of Catholic dioceses in Italy).
    • 2 territorial prelatures: Territorial Prelature of Loreto and Territorial Prelature of Pompei.
    • 6 territorial abbeys: Monte Oliveto Maggiore, Montecassino, Montevergine, Santa Maria di Grottaferrata, La Trinità della Cava and Subiaco.
    • 1 military ordinariate: Military Ordinariate in Italy.

• Allum, Percy. “Uniformity Undone: Aspects of Catholic Culture in Postwar Italy,” in Zygmunt Guido Baranski, Robert Lumley, eds. Culture and Conflict in Postwar Italy: Essays on Mass and Popular Culture (1990) pp. 79–96.
• Allum, Percy. "From Two into One' The Faces of the Italian Christian Democratic Party." Party Politics 3.1 (1997): 23–52.
• Binchy, Daniel A. Church and State in Fascist Italy (Oxford UP 1941) 774pp
• Ignazi, Piero, and Spencer Wellhofer. "Territory, religion, and vote: nationalization of politics and the Catholic party in Italy." Italian Political Science Review/Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica 47.1 (2017): 21–43.
• Latourette, Kenneth Scott. Christianity in a Revolutionary Age, IV: The Twentieth Century in Europe: The Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Churches. (1958) pp 153–58.
• Pollard, John. Catholicism in Modern Italy: Religion, Society and Politics, 1861 to the Present (Routledge, 2008). a major scholarly history
• Pollard, John. "Pius XI's Promotion of the Italian Model of Catholic Action in the World-Wide Church." Journal of Ecclesiastical History 63.4 (2012): 758–784.
• Warner, Carolyn M. "Christian Democracy in Italy: An alternative path to religious party moderation." Party Politics 19.2 (2013): 256–276.