Protestantism in Italy
Protestantism in Italy comprises a minority of the country's religious population.
The Catholic Church is by far the largest Christian denomination, but Protestantism has a significant presence. While the CESNUR (an Italian think tank devoted to religious studies, especially on new religions in Italy) asserts that there are 442,377 Protestants in Italy, due to the difficulty of keeping accurate records regarding the proclaimed religion of immigrants to the country, that number likely reflects, at best, only an approximation of the actual number of Protestants in the country.[1][better source needed]
In 2022, non-Catholic Christians made up 4% of the population,[2] while estimates suggest that 0.65% of the country has a Protestant background.[3]
History
The oldest known of Italy's Protestant churches, the Waldensian Evangelical Church, is a pre-Lutheran Protestant denomination, which was founded by Peter Waldo in the 12th century and, after the Protestant Reformation, adhered to Calvinist theology and became the Italian branch of the Reformed churches. The church's heartland is a cluster of Alpine valleys, the so-called "Waldensian Valleys" (Val Pellice, Val Chisone and Valle Germanasca), in western Piedmont. Since 1975 the Waldensians form a united church with the Methodist Evangelical Church in Italy.[4] The ideas of Girolamo Savonarola also had spread around Florence around the 15th century.[5]
The Reformation in Italy began at the end of the 15th century and quickly collapsed at the beginning of the 17th century. Its development was hindered by stern repression by the Inquisition of the Catholic Church.[6] Groups of Italian Protestants had more comfortable lives in Switzerland, particularly in the Graubünden region.
On 17 February 1848 Charles Albert, king of Piedmont-Sardinia, granted religious freedom and civic emancipation to the Waldensians. Freedom of worship and equality of civic and political rights were later extended to Jews and to the other Italian states that were progressively annexed to Piedmont-Sardinia during the process of unification of Italy. Newer Waldensian congregations sprang up as well as the Free Christian Church[7] (which lasted from 1852 to 1904) and the Evangelical Christian Church of the Brethren.[8][9] Meanwhile British and American missionaries began to preach and establish Anglican, Methodist and Baptist churches.
In the early 20th century, missionaries spread the Pentecostal gospel throughout the country. Nowadays, most of those resulting Pentecostal congregations belong to the Assemblies of God in Italy, the Federation of Pentecostal Churches, and the Apostolic Church in Italy.
The Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy (FCEI), formed in 1967, comprises all the historical Protestant churches of Italy (including the Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches, the Lutheran Evangelical Church in Italy, the Baptist Evangelical Christian Union of Italy, and some minor churches), plus two observer members with a large following (the Federation of Pentecostal Churches and the Italian Union of Seventh-day Adventist Christian Churches).[10][11]
Protestantism, especially in its Pentecostal forms, is thus on the rise. The Assemblies of God have the majority of their communities in the South[12] and, according to Caritas Italiana, in 2012 the North of Italy was home to 850 "African Neo-Pentecostal churches".[13]“The Waldensian church supported the armed struggle in the 1970s” – A far-left radio writes this August 26, 2016 Lucius One of our readers, Michaela, whom we thank, points out an article from August 23rd on the website of Radio Blackout, a far-left radio station founded in 1992, but evidently with ideological and historical roots in previous decades. The broadcaster is connected to groups such as Pantera, of a few years earlier, then to "okkupati" sites and social centres. Today she is also committed to animal rights and sexuality.
This is an article on the Waldensian Synod , entitled <<A “left-wing” church: the annual Waldensian synod is underway>>. The interest doesn't come so much from the statement of the title. Nothing strange: the political commitment of the Waldensian church in recent decades is very well known and was the subject of the 1976 petition , when over 3300 church members raised the alarm about it, asking that it instead stick to the Gospel. And if you enter into the political dispute you take sides, and the choice of the Waldensian leaders in favor of the left is well known.
No, the point is this passage from the article: “the Waldensian church is possible
The symbolic photo of the armed struggle of the 70s: the man with the P38 pistol
consider it a sort of left wing of Christianity (in the seventies it partially supported the armed struggle in Italy and South America)".
The concept is also reiterated
Extremists display the “P38 sign”
in the interview with "Manfredo , who knows the Waldensian world well from direct experience", on the same page, where we hear that "in the seventies the Waldensians were very close to choosing armed struggle". The interesting thing is that Radio Blackout shows that it sees the matter positively, it is not a question of attack or slander: quite the opposite.
The "armed struggle" of the 70s is that of the Red Brigades, the Front Line, the Proletarian Armed Nuclei and
Renato Curcio
other terrorist groups, which have committed several dozen murders, kidnappings and numerous other crimes.
We should expect denials from the Waldensian leadership. Of course, the connection between Renato Curcio, the historic leader of the Red Brigades, is no mystery.
Mara Cagol
with Valpellice. There is a widespread opinion in the valley that in the period between his release from Asti prison, obtained with a daring incursion by his wife Mara Cagol in February 1975 and his new arrest the following year, he largely spent in Villar Pellice. Previously, on 8 September 1974 he had been arrested for the first time not far away, in Pinerolo.
But a link between the Waldensian church and terrorism had never been mentioned so explicitly, moreover from a position of sympathy towards that page of Italian history.
See also
- Religion in Italy
- Christianity in Italy
- Catholic Church in Italy
- List of Italian religious minority politicians
- Conference of Protestant Churches in Latin Countries of Europe
- Waldensians
- Waldensian Evangelical Church
- Peter Martyr Vermigli
References
- ^ Introvigne, Massimo; Zoccatelli, PierLuigi (2014-03-06). "Le Religioni in Italia". cesnur.com. CENSUR. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
- ^ US State Dept 2022 report
- ^ The ARDA website, retrieved 2023-08-28
- ^ "Home | Chiesa Evangelica Valdese | Unione delle Chiese metodiste e valdesi". Chiesavaldese.org. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
- ^ "Philip Schaff: History of the Christian Church, Volume VI: The Middle Ages. A.D. 1294-1517 - Christian Classics Ethereal Library". ccel.org. Retrieved 2021-11-17.
- ^ "Riforma.net | la Riforma in Italia". www.riforma.net. Archived from the original on May 13, 2013.
- ^ https://www.studivaldesi.org/dizionario/evan_det.php?evan_id=170 [Society of Valdesi Studies, Chiesa Cristiana Libera - Chiesa Evangelica Italiana]
- ^ Spini, G.l'Evangelo ed il beretto frigio. Rome: Claudiana
- ^ http://www.studivaldesi.org/dizionario/evan_det.php?evan_id=172 [Society of Valdesi Studies, Chiese Cristiane dei Fratelli]
- ^ "F C e I - sito web ufficiale della Federazione delle Chiese Evangeliche in Italia". Archived from the original on February 24, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
- ^ "F C e I - sito web ufficiale della Federazione delle Chiese Evangeliche in Italia". www.fedevangelica.it. Archived from the original on August 21, 2014.
- ^ "Dove siamo - Le chiese delle Assemblee di Dio in Italia sul territorio nazionale". assembleedidio.org. Archived from the original on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
- ^ "XXIII Rapporto Immigrazione 2013" (PDF). Chiesacattolica.it. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
