Abstract
Orthodox Christianity in Italy can be considered as a ‘Western Orthodox laboratory’. In this scenario, in fact, some patterns relating to the establishment of Eastern Orthodoxy in Western Europe may be identified. Taking into consideration that in Italy there is the largest number of Orthodox faithful in Western Europe and the largest Romanian Orthodox diaspora in the world, I adopt the framework of religious glocalization and focus on the hybridization of Orthodox diasporas within the Italian environment. The first objective is to offer an overview of the universe of Orthodox churches in Italy. I examine the Orthodox community in the Italian peninsula, and then I study the constellation of its jurisdictions (canonical and non-canonical). In summary, I attempt to portray a recent Orthodox Christian panorama in Italy. The second aim is to offer an overview of the patterns of establishment of the three main Orthodox jurisdictions. I try to define the engagement with the host context of diasporas of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and the Russian Orthodox Church. I hypothesize that these three diaspora religions maintained different relationships with society, the dominant religion, and the State in the Italian context. They have thus developed different paths of settlement and religious orientations within their mission.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Excluding from this perspective, as Noble also suggests, the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) as the only case of an indigenous Orthodox diaspora in a Western country.
- 2.
The question of primacy over the traditionally non-Orthodox territories is a source of conflict founded in historical, theological, and ecclesiological reasons. Currently, it is polarized by two main positions. The Ecumenical Patriarchate claims jurisdiction over all the territories in the world that are not already part of the canonically delimited territories of another Orthodox church. On the other hand, the national autocephalous churches contest this right of world jurisdiction, warning of the danger of generating a primacy of authority similar to that of the Pope, and in some cases asking for a reading of the canons adapted to the present demographic reality of the Orthodox Communion. For a theological problematization of this issue, see Hämmerli (2010).
- 3.
In this estimate of followers of the Orthodox faith in Italy the adherents of the Coptic Orthodox Church are not included, and are accounted for individually. This is the jurisdiction of the Non-Chalcedonian Orthodox churches most deeply-rooted in Italy, whose faithful amount to about 18,700 and reside mainly in the northern regions (over 40% live in Lombardy).
- 4.
A historical profile of this church is available at the website of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR): http://www.cesnur.com/la-chiesa-ortodossa-italiana. Accessed 28 June 2018.
- 5.
An example is the traditional Easter celebration of the Romanian Orthodox community of Turin in a central square of the city (Cingolani 2011).
- 6.
For instance, this main narrative seems to be identifiable in three interviews of bishop Siluan on Italian television channels; available at the URL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89O9cw1I-hA; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcAZfqpeUHM; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNV8X9nB734. Accessed 20 September 2018.
Moreover, at the seat of the Romanian Patriarchate in Bucharest the main hall was renamed ‘Europa Christiana’ (Christian Europe). This symbolic choice highlights the adhesion of Romanian Orthodoxy to the European project and the space reserved for Europe in its ecumenical vision.
- 7.
As Carnevale confirmed in a long interview in June 2018 about his research project on the Orthodox churches in the Emilia-Romagna region (Carnevale 2018), the position of Russian Orthodox parishes towards the Catholic Church changes particularly in relation to Russian parish’s bonds with the local Catholic diocese, the local State institutions, and Slavic national groups involved.
- 8.
Within this task of providing centres for immigrants, the parishes, considering the precarious state created by the condition of the faithful as migrants, can provide economic aid to the point of organising real services for their adherents. They often become places where it is possible to share information and find solutions with respect to the basic needs of immigrants.
- 9.
In this regard, in a long interview in 2016 the archimandrite Evangelos Yfantidis, vicar general of the Archdiocese, underlined the importance – especially in the case of the diaspora – of not superimposing and confusing, as I will discuss shortly, the identity of the Ecumenical Patriarchate with that of the Greek Orthodox Church.
- 10.
Regarding the Latin character and nature of the Romanian people a debate exists in which certain discordant positions are present. I maintain that: the Latin character forms part of the collective identity, of the public discourse, and of the theology of the Romanian Orthodox Church ; the Latin character may be seen as corresponding to the ethnic identity of the Romanian population, although the different historical and cultural trajectories that characterize the Romanian regions must be considered. Regarding the first point, see Turcescu (2002), and with respect to the second point reference may be made to Antohi (2002).
- 11.
Furthermore, “in France , [as in the Italian case] the power strategy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate is expressed through the appropriation of the institutional representation of Orthodoxy, as is the case at the worldwide level” (Kazarian 2015: 252). Finally, also Roudometof states that “the overall strategy of the EC-PATR is to advance a vision of deterritorialized religiosity expressed through a flexible or opportunistic use of national autocephaly ” (2014a: 147).
- 12.
This double interpretation suggests a distinction already emphasized by some scholars (and followed in this chapter): while from the canonical point of view the phenomenon of the Orthodox diaspora should be declined in the singular (the Orthodox diaspora), in the sociological perspective the diasporic phenomenon of the Orthodox churches should be declined in the plural (Orthodox diasporas).
References
Antohi, S. (2002). Romania and the Balkans: From geocultural bovarism to ethnic ontology. Tr@nsit Online, 21. Available at URL: http://www.iwm.at/transit/transit-online/romania-and-the-balkans. Accessed 26 June 2018.
Beyer, P. (2007). Globalization and glocalization. In J. A. Beckford & N. J. Demerath III (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of the sociology of religion (pp. 98–117). Los Angeles: Sage.
Butticci, A. (2016). African Pentecostals in Catholic Europe: The politics of presence in the twenty-first century. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Carnevale, D. N. (2018, March 7). Moldovan Orthodoxies: Social insecurity, political borders and the debate about religious freedom. Paper presented at European Academy of Religion (EuARe), Bologna.
Caselgrandi, N., Rinaldi, A., & Montebugnoli, A. (Eds.). (2013). Se Due Milioni vi Sembran Pochi: Colf e Badanti nella Società Italiana di Oggi. Rome: Carocci.
Cingolani, P. (2011). Torino, Romania: Un Viaggio negli Spazi Urbani dell’Immigrazione Romena. In M. C. Belloni (Ed.), Torino: Luoghi Urbani e Spazi Sociali (pp. 53–65). Soveria Mannelli: Rubbettino.
Ebaugh, H. R., & Chafetz, J. S. (1999). Agents for cultural reproduction and structural change: The ironic role of women in immigrant religious institutions. Social Forces, 78(2), 585–612.
Garelli, F. (2011). Religione all’Italiana: L’Anima del Paese Messa a Nudo. Bologna: Il Mulino.
Garelli, F. (2016). Piccoli Atei Crescono: Davvero una Generazione Senza Dio? Bologna: Il Mulino.
Garelli, F., Guizzardi, G., & Pace, E. (Eds.). (2003). Un Singolare Pluralismo: Indagine sul Pluralismo Morale e Religioso degli Italiani. Bologna: Il Mulino.
Giordan, G. (2015). Orthodox Christianity in Italy: Historical continuity and social discontinuity. Religion, State and Society, 43(3), 262–275.
Giordan, G., & Guglielmi, M. (2018). Be fruitful and multiply… Fast! The spread of Orthodox Churches in Italy. In J. Stolz & C. Monnot (Eds.), Congregations in Europe (pp. 53–69). Cham: Springer.
Giordan, G., Guglielmi, M., & Olga, B. (2018). Gender order and Romanian Orthodox women in Italy: A socio-religious perspective. Gosudarstvo, religiia, tserkov’ v Rossii i za rubezhom, 36(2), 221–247.
Grigore, M. (2016). ‘Orthodox brothers’: Ecclesiastical jurisdiction, national identity, and conflict between the Romanian and Russian Orthodox Churches in Moldavia. In J. C. Wood (Ed.), Christianity and national identity in twentieth-century Europe: Conflict, community, and the social order (pp. 91–110). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
Hämmerli, M. (2010). Orthodox diaspora? A sociological and theological problematization of a stock phrase. International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church, 10(2/3), 97–115.
Hämmerli, M. (2011). Les Dimensions Plurielles de l’Intégration des Communautés Orthodoxes en Suisse. National research programme 58: Religion, the State and Society. Final research report.
Hämmerli, M., & Mayer, J. F. (Eds.). (2014a). Orthodox identities in Western Europe: Migration, settlement and innovation. Farnham: Ashgate.
Hämmerli, M., & Mayer, J. F. (2014b). Introduction. In M. Hämmerli & J. F. Mayer (Eds.), Orthodox identities in Western Europe: Migration, settlement and innovation (pp. 1–26). Farnham: Ashgate.
Harja, A., & Melis, G. (2010). Romeni: La Minoranza Decisiva per l’Italia di Domani. Soveria Mannelli: Rubettino.
IDOS. (2017). Dossier Statistico Immigrazione. Rome: Edizioni Idos (from 2002 to 2017).
Ihlamur-Öner, S. G. (2009). The Romanian Orthodox Churches in Italy: The construction of Romanian-Italian transnational Orthodox space. PhD thesis, University of Trento, Trento, Italy.
Ihlamur-Öner, S. G. (2014). Romanian Orthodox Churches in Italy: The construction of the Romanian-Italian transnational Orthodox space. In M. Hämmerli & J. F. Mayer (Eds.), Orthodox identities in Western Europe: Migration, settlement and innovation (pp. 29–50). Farnham: Ashgate.
ISMU. (2016). Immigrati e Religioni in Italia: Gli Ortodossi Sono Più Numerosi dei Musulmani. Report Fondazione ISMU. Available at URL: http://www.ismu.org/2016/07/in-italia-ortodossi-piu-numerosi-dei-musulmani. Accessed 26 June 2018.
Kazarian, N. (2012). Orthodoxie et Mondialisation, une Résistance en Mouvement: Étude des Paradigmes Grecs et Russes. In B. Massignon & C. Grannec (Eds.), Les Religions Dans la Mondialisation: Entre Acculturation et Contestation (pp. 125–146). Paris: Editions Karthala.
Kazarian, N. (2015). The Orthodox Church in France facing French secularism (‘laïcité’). Religion, State and Society, 43(3), 244–261.
Krindatch, A. (2011). Atlas of American Orthodox Churches. Brookline: Holy Cross Orthodox Press.
Krindatch, A. (2016). Atlas of American Orthodox Christians monasteries. Brookline: Holy Cross Orthodox Press.
Leustean, L. N. (2018). Eastern Orthodoxy, geopolitics and the 2016 ‘Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church’. Geopolitics, 23(1), 201–216.
Lichterman, P. (2005). Elusive togetherness: Church groups trying to bridge America’s divisions. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Makrides, V. N. (2012a). Orthodox Christianity, modernity and postmodernity: Overview, analysis and assessment. Religion, State and Society, 40(3/4), 248–285.
Makrides, V. N. (2012b). Orthodox Christianity, change, innovation: Contradictions in terms? In T. S. Willert & L. Molokotos-Liederman (Eds.), Innovation in the Orthodox Christian tradition? The question of change in Greek Orthodox thought and practice (pp. 19–50). London/New York: Routledge.
Makrides, V. N. (2013). Why does the Orthodox Church lack systematic social teaching? Skepsis: A Journal for Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Research, 23, 281–312.
Marsh, C. (2013). Eastern Orthodoxy and the fusion of national and spiritual security. In C. Seiple, D. R. Hoover, & P. Otis (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of religion and security (pp. 22–32). London/New York: Routledge.
Noble, I. (2016). The future of the Orthodox diaspora – An observer’s point of view. St. Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly, 60(1/2), 171–188.
Pace, E. (2011). Vecchi e Nuovi Dei: La Geografia Religiosa dell’Italia che Cambia. Cinisello Balsamo: Paoline Editoriale Libri.
Pace, E. (Ed.). (2013). Le Religioni nell’Italia che Cambia: Mappe e Bussole. Rome: Carocci.
Parlato, V. (2012). La Legge n. 126 del 2012 Relativa ai Rapporti tra Italia e Sacra Arcidiocesi Ortodossa d’Italia e Malta. Stato, Chiese e Pluralismo Confessionale: Rivista telematica, 36.
Payne, D. P. (2010). Spiritual security, the Russian Orthodox Church, and the Russian Foreign Ministry: Collaboration or cooptation? Journal of Church and State, 52(4), 712–727.
Payne, D. P., & Kent, J. M. (2011). An alliance of the Sacred: Prospects for a Catholic-Orthodox partnership against secularism in Europe. Journal of Ecumenical Studies, 46(1), 41–66.
Perego, G., & Gnesotto, G. (2010). Immigrati e Religioni: Preminenza degli Ortodossi e Dibattito sulle Moschee. In Dossier Statistico Immigrazione Caritas-Migrantes 2010 (pp. 204–211). Rome: Edizioni Idos.
Petro, N. (2018). The Russian Orthodox Church. In A. P. Tsygankov (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of Russian Foreign Policy (pp. 217–232). London/New York: Routledge.
Ravegnani, G. (2004). I Bizantini in Italia. Bologna: Il Mulino.
Ricucci, R. (2017). Diversi dall’Islam: Figli dell’Immigrazione e Altre Fedi. Bologna: Il Mulino.
Rimestad, S., & Kadotschikow, E. (2014). The ambivalent Ecumenical relations among Russian Orthodox faithful in Germany. In M. Hämmerli & J. F. Mayer (Eds.), Orthodox identities in Western Europe: Migration, settlement and innovation (pp. 74–82). Farnham: Ashgate.
Roudometof, V. (2014a). Globalization and Orthodox Christianity: The transformations of a religious tradition. London/New York: Routledge.
Roudometof, V. (2014b). The glocalizations of Christianity in Europe: A global-historical perspective. In R. Robertson (Ed.), European glocalization in global context (pp. 62–81). London/New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Roudometof, V. (2015a). Special section: Orthodox Christianity in Western Europe. Religion, State, and Society, 43(3), 1–2.
Roudometof, V. (2015b). Orthodox Christianity as a transnational religion: Theoretical, historical and comparative considerations. Religion, State and Society, 43(3), 211–227.
Roudometof, V. (2016). Globalization. In D. Yamane (Ed.), Handbook of religion and society (pp. 505–524). New York: Springer.
Sidorov, D. (2006). Post-imperial third Romes: Resurrections of a Russian Orthodox geopolitical metaphor. Geopolitics, 11(2), 317–347.
Suslov, M. D. (2014). “Holy Rus”: The geopolitical imagination in the contemporary Russian Orthodox Church. Russian Politics & Law, 52(3), 67–86.
Talalay, M. (1998). Ortodossia Russa in Italia. Religioni e società, 30, 90–98.
Turcescu, L. (Ed.). (2002). Dumitru Stăniloae: Tradition and modernity in theology. Iași/Palm Beach: Center for Romanian Studies.
Turcotte, P. A. (2012). The national Church as a historical form of Church-type. Elements of a configurative theorization. Social Compass, 59(4), 525–538.
Zizioulas, J. (2008, February 10). Il Contributo della Teologia Ortodossa Occidentale. Paris: Institut de Théologie Orthodoxe Saint-Serge. Available at URL: http://www.esarcato.it/archivio_testi/theologica/teologia_ortodossa_occidentale.pdf. Accessed 26 June 2018.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Guglielmi, M. (2020). Orthodox Christianity in a Western Catholic Country. In: Giordan, G., Zrinščak, S. (eds) Global Eastern Orthodoxy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28687-3_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28687-3_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-28686-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-28687-3
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyPhilosophy and Religion (R0)