The Church of England in Italy: We are now legally recognised


It took a while, but persistent hard work led in recent years by the Archdeacon of Italy and Malta, the Venerable Jonathan Boardman, finally resulted in the official recognition of the Church of England in Italian law. On Thursday 17 July, President Giorgio Napolitano signed a decree which gives legal recognition and personalità giuridica to the Chiesa d'Inghilterra. This is significant news for our Church and gives us a firm legal basis for our work and activity and opens up possibilities of further benefits within Italy itself.

I recall that my first visit to the Italy and Malta Archdeaconry Synod in 2003 had the question of the legal status of our Church on the agenda. In 2004 to 2005 I was the Acting Archdeacon of Italy and Malta (in addition to Suffragan Bishop) and remember explorations about how to carry forward this proposal. Intensive work began about 8 years ago, through a committee (pictured above) that included representative laity from across Italy, legal counsel and the UK ambassadors both to Italy and the Holy See.  We congratulate the Archdeacon and his committee which have brought us to this day.

There are over 20 congregations of our Church in Italy, with several new communities emerging and at least 2 congregations which regularly worship in Italian. The oldest of our congregations, St George’s Venice, has a history going back 410 years.

Archdeacon Jonathan Boardman (3rd from right)


Comments

  1. Br G-M30 July 2014 at 20:39

    The late Bishop John Sattersthwaite would be thrilled!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Farewell to the Diocese in Europe

Image
Deacon Frances and I packed up our office yesterday and turned over our official files, emails and equipment. Thus a close working together for 22 years comes to an end. So it is hard to believe that today, St David's day, a new chapter begins, after 44 years of stipendiary ministry, 22 years as deacon then priest and 22 as a bishop.  Here are just a few memories from the last couple of months...   But now it is time to begin a new chapter.  O God, by whose command the order of time runs its course: forgive our impatience, perfect our faith and, while we await the fulfilment of your promise, grant us to have a good hope because of your Word,  even Jesus Christ our Lord. (St Gregory Nazianzus, 330 - 390)
Read more

Archbishop of Canterbury's Pentecost Letter: A European Consequence

Image
In his Pentecost letter, the Archbishop of Canterbury warned of certain consequences for provinces of the Anglican Communion which have failed to stand by the three moratoria . (No authorisation of blessings services for same-sex unions; no consecrations of bishops living in same-sex relationships; and no bishop authorising any ministry within the diocese of another bishop without explicit permission). One consequence would be that representatives from such provinces w ould not be able to participate in the formal international interchurch dialogues of the Communion. One of those dialogues is the Anglican-Old Catholic International Co-ordinating Council ( AOCICC ), the official instrument set up to deepen the relationship of communion established in 1931 between the Anglican Communion and the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht . As the member Churches of the Union of Utrecht are all European, the AOCICC is effectively a European body. (I am one of the members, appo...
Read more

Bishop Austin Rios of California

Image
It was a joyful, colourful, multicultural three-hour liturgy. At Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, the Revd Austin Rios was consecrated the bishop coadjutor of the Diocese of California. I have known Austin from his time as the Rector of St Paul's Episcopal Church in Rome, where he was a great friend and collaborator with our own Church of England All Saints Chaplaincy in that city. The liturgy, appropriately, marked the multiculural make-up of the diocese, with prayers, readings, hymns and songs in English, Spanish, Tagalog, Tonga and Mandarin. The final procession was led by a Chinese dragon! I was told that there were about 300 in the procession and 2000 present in the beautiful gothic cathedral on Nob Hill San Francisco. My good friend and ecuenical colleague from Rome Fr Keith Peckers SJ was also in attenance, so the Church of Rome and the Church of England were both represented! Among the bishop friends present were Bishop Mark Edington of the Episcopal Convocation in Europe, a...
Read more