The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church) has had a presence in Italy since 1850.

History

19th century

During the October 1849 general conference,

Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...

called

Lorenzo Snow Lorenzo Snow (April 3, 1814 – October 10, 1901) was an American religious leader who served as the fifth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1898 until his death. Snow was the last president of the L ...

and

Joseph Toronto __NOTOC__ Joseph Toronto (born Giuseppe Taranto) (June 25, 1818 – July 6, 1883) was the first Italian convert to the Latter Day Saint movement and was one of the first missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) ...

to open missionary work in Italy. While en route to Italy, Snow called

T. B. H. Stenhouse Thomas Brown Holmes Stenhouse (21 February 1825 – 7 March 1882) was an early Mormon pioneer and Mormon missionary, missionary who later became a Godbeite and with his wife, Fanny Stenhouse, became a vocal opponent of the Church of Jesus Christ ...

and Jabez Woodard to serve in the new mission. They arrived in

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

on 25 June 1850, and Snow offered a prayer dedicating Italy to the preaching of the gospel and organized the Italian Mission on 19 September on a mountain peak near the city of

Torre Pellice Torre Pellice (Vivaro-Alpine: ''La Torre de Pèlis'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southwest of Turin. It is crossed by the Pellice river. Torre Pellice is the cent ...

. On 27 October, Snow baptized the first convert. The first Italian-language edition of the Book of Mormon was published in London in 1852. Authorized online reprinted at: . In 1853 a group of approximately 70

Waldensians The Waldensians (also known as Waldenses (), Vallenses, Valdesi or Vaudois) are adherents of a church tradition that began as an ascetic movement within Western Christianity before the Reformation. Originally known as the "Poor Men of Lyon" in ...

, including men, women, and children left their homes in the

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

Valleys and migrated to

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Territory, after being converted by

. These Waldensians maintained their cultural heritage, while passing on their mixture of Mormon and Waldensian faiths to their descendants. Their descendants still consider themselves both Mormon and Waldensian, and have met occasionally over the many decades to celebrate both heritages. The mission closed in 1867, after everyone baptized had either migrated to

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state. ...

or left the church.

20th century

Unsuccessful attempts were made to resume proselytizing, but legal permission was not granted to do so. Members of the church finally returned to Italy during World War II as foreign servicemen: nearly 2,000 LDS military personnel were in the region during the mid-1940s, and there remains a LDS military presence in Italy ever since. Vincenzo Di Francesca was one of the first converts in Italy in the 20th century, and his story was documented in the 1987 LDS Church film ''

How Rare a Possession ''How Rare a Possession'' is a 64-minute film produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It depicts the conversion stories of Parley P. Pratt, a church leader in the 19th century, and Vincenzo di Francesca, an Italia ...

''. In 1964 a new Italian-language translation of the Book of Mormon was published, and

Ezra Taft Benson Ezra Taft Benson (August 4, 1899 – May 30, 1994) was an American farmer, government official, and religious leader who served as the 15th United States Secretary of Agriculture during both presidential terms of Dwight D. Eisenhower and a ...

successfully negotiated with Italian government officials to allow missionary work to begin again. In early 1965, elders from the Swiss Mission were assigned to cities in Italy, and on August 2, 1966, Benson reestablished the Italian Mission, with headquarters in Florence. By 1971 there was a second mission opened in Italy, and in 1977 there were four missions: Rome, Catania, Milan, and Padova. That same year

Spencer W. Kimball Spencer Woolley Kimball (March 28, 1895 – November 5, 1985) was an American business, civic, and religious leader who was the twelfth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The grandson of early Latter-day S ...

visited Italy, the first church president to do so. After many years of effort, formal legal status in Italy was granted to the church in 1993.

21st century

In 2008, the church announced the planned construction of the

Rome Italy Temple The Rome Italy Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Rome, Italy. The temple serves church members in Italy, as well as Malta, Greece, Cyprus, Albania and parts of Romania. Thomas S. Monson, the LDS C ...

, the first temple in Italy. In 2016, Massimo De Feo became the first Italian national to be appointed a general authority of the church.

Stakes

As of February 2023, the following stakes had congregations in Italy:

Missions

*Italy

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Mission *Italy

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Mission

Temples

The

serves all stakes in Italy. Prior to its completion, Bern Switzerland was the nearest temple.

Notes

References

*Lia McClanahan
"Latter-day Saints in Italy: A Legacy of Faith"
'' Liahona'', June 2014

External links

LDS News and Events - ItalyLDS Newsroom - ItalyItaly
entry at LDS Newsroom - includes a brief history
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Official Site (Italy)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Visitors Site {{DEFAULTSORT:Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Italy, The Christian denominations in Italy 1850 establishments in Italy 1850 in Christianity