Italian Episcopal Conference

The Italian Bishops' Conference ( it. Conferenza Episcopale Italiana , CEI) is the official assembly of all Italian bishops . The Italian Bishops 'Conference represents the entirety of all regional bishops' conferences and has its seat in Rome . She is a member of the Council of European Bishops 'Conferences (CCEE) and sends a representative to the Commission of Bishops' Conferences of the European Community (COMECE).

Church provinces in Italy

Task

Under the guiding principle that every bishop called by God is responsible for apostolic discipleship , these must fulfill their task as vicars of their congregations. They are therefore in the succession of the apostles and must fulfill their office as a college under the direction of the Roman Pope . The Bishops' Conference is subject to the uniform provisions set out in the Codex Iuris Canonici (CIC).

history

The idea of ​​an Italian bishops' conference first came up in 1946. But Cardinal Ernesto Ruffini , Archbishop of Palermo, Pope Pius XII. not until 1951 move to allow the establishment of a bishops' conference for Italy. This paved the way for a first meeting in January 1952 in Florence. Since then there have been regular meetings. In 1954 a first statute was adopted.

At first, the conference did not - unlike today - all bishops of Italy belong, but only the presidents of the regional bishops' conferences. These regional episcopal conferences had already been approved by the Holy See in 1889 by the Alcuni Arcivescovi instruction .

During the Second Vatican Council in 1962 the first general assembly of all Italian bishops took place. In 1964 the Italian Bishops' Conference was institutionalized in its current form. According to the statutes, which were renewed in 1965, all bishops of Italy belong to it.

structure

The main body of the Italian Bishops' Conference is the General Assembly , from which all decisions are made and their implementation is monitored. It meets at least once a year; special meetings can also be called. Other governing bodies are:

• The Bureau
• The Permanent Council
• The General Secretariat
• The Council on Business and Finance
• The Legal Council

Bureau

• president
  • Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti , Archbishop of Perugia-Città della Pieve
• Vice President
  • for southern Italy: Antonino Raspanti Bishop of Acireale
  • for central Italy: Mario Meini , Archbishop of Fiesole
  • for Northern Italy: Franco Giulio Brambilla , Archbishop of Novara
• Secretary General
  • Stefano Russo

Permanent advice

The permanent council is composed of the presidium and the chairmen of the regional episcopal conferences of the 16 church regions of Italy: Abruzzo-Molise , Apulia , Basilicata , Emilia-Romagna , Calabria , Campania , Lazio , Liguria , Lombardy , Marche , Piedmont , Sardinia , Sicily ( see Sicilian Bishops' Conference ), Tuscany , Triveneto and Umbria .

In addition, the permanent council includes all presidents of the episcopal commissions.

Episcopal Commissions

1. Faith and Catechesis
2. liturgy
3. Pastoral care
4. For consecrated life ( religious orders )
5. Laity
6. family
7. Church Mission and Cooperation
8. Dialogue and Ecumenism
9. Catholic education, schools and universities
10. Live in peace and society
11. Culture and mass media
12. Refugees, emigrants and migrants

Chairperson

• Alfredo Ildefonso Cardinal Schuster OSB , Archbishop of Milan (1952–1953)
• Adeodato Giovanni Cardinal Piazza OCD , Cardinal Curia and Patriarch of Venice (1953–1954)
• Maurilio Cardinal Fossati , Archbishop of Turin (1954-1958)
• Giuseppe Cardinal Siri , Archbishop of Genoa (1959–1965)
• Giovanni Cardinal Urbani , Patriarch of Venice (1966–1969)
• Antonio Cardinal Poma , Archbishop of Bologna (1969–1979)
• Anastasio Alberto Cardinal Ballestrero OCD , Archbishop of Turin (1979–1985)
• Ugo Cardinal Poletti , Cardinal Curia (1985–1991)
• Camillo Cardinal Ruini , Cardinal of the Curia (1991-2007)
• Angelo Cardinal Bagnasco , Archbishop of Genoa (2007-2017)
• Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti , Archbishop of Perugia-Città della Pieve (since 2017)

In contrast to almost all other bishops' conferences, the chairman is not elected by the bishops, but has been appointed since 1959 by the Pope , who is also the Primate of Italy as Bishop of Rome. The general secretary of the Italian Bishops' Conference is also not elected, but appointed by the Pope.

Corporate investments

The Italian Bishops' Conference operates the Catholic television channel Sat2000 .

See also

• List of Roman Catholic Dioceses

literature

(in order of appearance)

• Francesco Sportelli: La Conferenza episcopale italiana, 1952-1972 . Congedo, Galatina 1994. ISBN 88-8086-099-2 .
• Elio Guerriero (ed.): La conferencea episcopale italiana . Jaca Book, Milan 1996. ISBN 88-16-70149-8 .
• Luigi Bianco : La conferencea episcopale italiana. Profilo storico e giuridico . Diss., Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome 2005.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Raimondo Spiazzi: Il Cardinale Giuseppe Siri, arcivescovo di Genova dal 1946 al 1987. La vita, l'insegnamento, l'eredità spirituale, le memorie . Edizioni Studio Domenicano, Bologna 1990. ISBN 88-7094-018-7 . P. 51.
2. ↑ Paolo gheda: I sessant'anni della Conferenza Episcopale Italiana . In: La Stampa , January 23, 2012.
3. ^ Gianni Cardinale: The Italian Bishops' Conference and its Presidents , In: 30 days , February 2007 issue.
4. ↑ Isabella Bolgiani: La Chiesa Cattolica in Italia. Normativa pattizia . Giuffrè Editore, Milan 2009. ISBN 88-14-14599-7 . P. 42.
5. ^ Andrea Riccardi : I cinquant'anni della Conferenza Episcopale Italiana. All origini di una storia . Lecture to the General Assembly of the Italian Bishops' Conference on May 20, 2002, reproduced in: L'Osservatore romano , June 29, 2002.
6. ^ Gianni Cardinale: The Italian Bishops' Conference and its Presidents , In: 30 days , February 2007 issue.

Web links

• Website of the Italian Bishops' Conference (Conferenza Episcopale Italiana) (Italian)