Orthodox Church in Italy
| Part of a series on |
| Eastern Christianity |
|---|
 |
|
Liturgy and worship |
|
The Orthodox Church in Italy (Italian: Chiesa Ortodossa in Italia, Chiesa Vecchio-Cattolica in Italia) is an effort to establish a national Orthodox church in Italy, bringing all the Orthodox parishes and missions under an Italian Metropolitan, but only some independent groups have adhered to it.
History
It was founded in 1991 by Italian Orthodox Bishop Antonio De Rosso, a former Roman Catholic priest, who became bishop of Apria and Lazio under the jurisdiction of Metropolitan Cyprian of Oropos and Fili, a leader of the Greek Old Calendarists movement. In 1993, the church joined Bulgarian Orthodox Church and in 1995, Antonio was enthroned bishop of Ravenna and Italy.
After 1997, the Orthodox Church in Italy remained linked with Patriarch Pimen's Bulgarian Alternative Synod and Bishop Antonio became Metropolitan of Ravenna and Italy. During that year, the Orthodox Church in Italy was recognized as an autonomous church and Metropolitan Antonio became a full member of Pimen's Saint Synod. Bishop Antonio has sought fellowship with Greek Old Calendarists and the Bulgarian Alternative Synod. Nowadays, the Orthodox Church in Italy is in full communion with the Bulgarian Alternative Synod, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchy and some small churches.
After Metropolitan Antonio's death, the Church became an association in memory of its deceased Primate. In 2013 it became a vicariate of the Nordic Catholic Church and adopted the alternative name Old Catholic Church in Italy, as part of the Western Orthodox/Traditional Old Catholic Union of Scranton.[1]