Christianity in Italy

The defeat of the Pope by the Kingdom of Italy gave rise to a long period of antagonism between ecclesiastical and Italian powers.

This resulted in the Catholic Church suggesting its believers not to take part in the affairs of the country and the consequent secularisation of Italian politics.

The current Pope is Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who is from Argentina and, before his election in 2013, had been the Archbishop of Buenos Aires from 1998.

Francis is the third non-Italian Pope in a row, after John Paul II (1978–2005) from Poland and Benedict XVI (2005–2013) from Bavaria, Germany.

[7] The Italian territory is divided into 225 Catholic dioceses (whose bishops have been organised, since 1952, in the politically influential[8][9] Episcopal Conference of Italy, CEI),[10][11] currently led by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi.

[26] Also Protestantism, especially in its Evangelical and Pentecostal forms, is on the rise: Introvigne recalls how Giorgio Bouchard, a Waldensian pastor, told him that "when he was born, the typical Italian Protestant was a man, lived in Piedmont, had a last name like Bouchard and was a Waldensian", while "today, the typical Italian Protestant believer is a woman, lives in Campania or Sicily, is named Esposito and is a Pentecostal.

"[27] Not surprisingly the Assemblies of God in Italy (150,000 members), the Federation of Pentecostal Churches (50,000) and several smaller Evangelical/Pentecostal denominations have the majority of their communities in the South.

Among the fastest-growing new religious denominations in Italy a special place is held by the Jehovah's Witnesses, who count around 420,000 faithful, including both members and other people regularly attending the [Congregation's meetings.