The Italian Episcopal Conference ( it, Conferenza Episcopale Italiana) or CEI is the

episcopal conference An episcopal conference, sometimes called a conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The first assembly of bishops to ...

of the Italian

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

s of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, the official assembly of the bishops in Italy. The conference was founded in 1971 and carries out certain tasks and has the authority to set the liturgical norms for the

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

. Episcopal conferences receive their authority under universal law or particular mandates.

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

Gualtiero Bassetti Gualtiero Bassetti (born 7 April 1942) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who was Archbishop of Perugia-Città della Pieve from 2009 to 2022. He has been a bishop since 1994 and was made a cardinal in 2014. He was president of the Ital ...

was appointed its president by

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

in 2017. It is the only episcopal conference for which the pope appoints the president and secretary-general. In almost all other conferences the president is elected, while the secretary-general is elected in all others. At the beginning of his papacy in 2013, Pope Francis considered having the CEI membership elect its own president and secretary-general, a proposal that was once considered and abandoned by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

. In 2017, adopting a new procedure, the CEI members elected three candidates for president and submitted them to the pope, who was free to choose one of them or someone else. Pope Francis repeatedly urged the CEI bishops to organize a national synod as discussed at their conference in Florence in 2015, first through surrogates and then himself inviting them to undertake a synod, eventually telling them in January 2021 that it was their duty and the time had come. The conference leadership submitted their synod proposal to him a month later. A

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

version of the Bible in Italian is published by the Conferenza Episcopale Italiana. The conference established Italy's first national day of prayer for survivors of clerical sexual abuse on 18 November 2021.

Leadership

;Presidents *

Ildefonso Schuster Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster OSB (, ; 18 January 1880 – 30 August 1954), born Alfredo Ludovico Schuster, was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate and professed member from the Benedictines who served as the Archbishop of Milan from 1929 until his d ...

(1952–1953) *

Adeodato Giovanni Piazza Adeodato Giovanni Piazza, O.C.D. (30 September 1884 – 30 November 1957) was an Italian friar of the Discalced Carmelite Order, who became a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, and Patriarch of Venice, as well as a member of the Roman Curi ...

(1953–1954) *

Maurilio Fossati Maurilio Fossati, O.SS.G.C.N., (24 May 1876 – 30 March 1965) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Turin from 1930 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1933. Biography Born in Arona ...

(1954–1958) *

Giuseppe Siri Giuseppe Siri (20 May 1906 – 2 May 1989) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Genoa from 1946 to 1987, and was elevated to the rank of cardinal in 1953. He was a protege of Pope Pius XII. He was considered ...

(1959–1965) *A temporary committee of cardinals with collective presidency:

Giovanni Colombo Giovanni Colombo (6 December 1902 – 20 May 1992) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Milan from 1963 to 1979 and was elevated to the rank of cardinal in 1965. Biography Early life and priesthood Gi ...

Ermenegildo Florit Ermenegildo Florit (5 July 1901 – 8 December 1985) was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Florence from 1962 to 1977, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1965. Biography Ermenegildo Florit was born ...

Giovanni Urbani Giovanni Urbani (26 March 1900 – 17 September 1969) was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Patriarch of Venice from 1958 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1958. He was considered to be o ...

(1965–1966) *Giovanni Urbani (1966–1969) *

Antonio Poma Antonio Poma (12 June 1910 – 24 September 1985) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Bologna from 1968 to 1983, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1969. Biography Poma was born in Villanterio, and s ...

(1969–1979) *

Anastasio Ballestrero Anastasio Alberto Ballestrero (3 October 1913 – 21 June 1998) - in religious Anastasio del Santissimo Rosario - was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal and professed member from the Discalced Carmelites who served as the Archbishop of Turin ...

(1979–1985) *

Ugo Poletti Ugo Poletti (19 April 1914 – 25 February 1997) was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Vicar General of Rome from 1973 to 1991, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1973. Biography Born in Omegna, Poletti studied ...

(1985–1991) *

Camillo Ruini Camillo Ruini (; born 19 February 1931) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who was made a cardinal in 1991. He served as president of the Italian Episcopal Conference from 1991 to 2007 and as Vicar General of the Diocese of Rome fr ...

(1991–2007) *

Angelo Bagnasco Angelo Bagnasco (; born 14 January 1943) is an Italian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was Archbishop of Genoa from 2006 to 2020. He was President of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) from 2007 to 2017 and was elevated to the rank of ...

(2007–2017) *

(2017 – 2022) *

Matteo Zuppi Matteo Maria Zuppi (born 11 October 1955) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been Archbishop of Bologna since 12 December 2015. He was previously an auxiliary bishop of Rome from 2012 to 2015. Pope Francis raised him to the ra ...

(24 May 2022 - present) ;Secretaries-General The official that deals with the day-to-day affairs of the Conference is the secretary-general. *

(28 June 1986 – 7 March 1991) *

Dionigi Tettamanzi Dionigi Tettamanzi (14 March 1934 – 5 August 2017) was an Italian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, who was named a cardinal in 1998. He was Archbishop of Genoa from 1995 to 2004 and Archbishop of Milan from 2004 to 2011. Early years Tet ...

(14 March 1991 – 20 April 1995) *

Ennio Antonelli Ennio Antonelli (born 18 November 1936) is an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church and retired President of the Pontifical Council for the Family. Early life and ordination Born in Todi, he first attended seminary there, and then in Ass ...

(26 May 1995 – 5 April 2001) *

Giuseppe Betori Giuseppe Betori (born 25 February 1947 in Foligno, Italy) is an Italian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the archbishop of Florence and the former Secretary General of the Italian Episcopal Conference. Early life He was ordained a pries ...

(5 April 2001 – 8 September 2008) *

Mariano Crociata Mariano Crociata (born 16 March 1953) has been bishop of the Diocese of Latina-Terracina-Sezze-Priverno since 19 November 2013. He was previously the Secretary-General of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), the first to come from a southern ...

(25 September 2008 – 19 November 2013) *

Nunzio Galantino Nunzio Galantino (born 16 August 1948) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church. He was named President of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA) on 26 June 2018. He was the Secretary-General of the Italian Episcopa ...

(30 December 2013 – 26 June 2018) * Stefano Russo (28 September 2018 – 5 July 2022) *

Giuseppe Baturi Giuseppe Baturi (born 21 March 1964) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been Archbishop of Cagliari in Sardinia since 2020 and secretary of the Episcopal Conference of Italy (CEI) since 2022. Biography Giuseppe Andrea Salvato ...

(5 July 2022 – present)

Notes

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Christian organizations established in 1971 Catholic Church in Italy

Leadership

See also

Notes

References

External links