In Catholic Italy, Protestants Still Face Fascist-Era Land Restrictions
ROME — Evangelical leaders in Italy are calling for a full repeal of curbs on religious freedom as the nation marks the 70th anniversary of the lifting of the fascist-era law, which outlawed Pentecostals as contrary to “the physical and psychological integrity of the race.”
Recently, Italian evangelical leaders said that while Buffarini Guidi’s circular had officially been repealed, they were still facing draconian restrictions, because the Catholic Church continued to exercise undue influence over Italian state policy towards Protestants.
The pastors, who are planting new churches in the predominantly Catholic country, have been paying attention to Pope Leo XIV’s recent remarks on religious freedom, which might help loosen the stringent Mussolini-era restrictions facing them.
Addressing a delegation of Aid to the Church in Need International on Oct. 10, Leo emphasized that religious freedom “is not merely a legal right or a privilege granted to us by governments; it is a foundational condition that makes authentic reconciliation possible.”
“The Catholic Church has always defended religious freedom for all people,” the pontiff said, noting that “the Second Vatican Council in Dignitatis Humanae declared that this right must be recognized in the legal and institutional life of every nation.”
On Oct. 24, the Assemblies of God Church in Naples hosted a ceremony led by its founder-pastor Salvatore Anatasio to commemorate the abolition of the Buffarini Guidi circular. In a historic first, the Prefect of Naples, Michele di Bari, attended the service, along with the Mayor of Naples, Gaetano Manfredi.
In his sermon, former U.S. Attorney General John David Ashcroft, who was the guest of honor, exhorted the congregation to “true Christian love,” which “does not judge [the past] but offers grace, forgiveness, and renewal, just as Christ did.”
Issued in 1935 by Undersecretary of the Interior Guido Buffarini Guidi, the circular “can, in fact, be considered the culmination of the anti-Protestant cooperation between the Catholic Church and the Fascist government,” explains Italian historian Paolo Zanini.
In his book The “Protestant Peril.” The Church and Italian Catholics on the issue of religious freedom, 1922–1955, Zanini notes that “the promulgation of the Buffarini Guidi decree marked a moment in the totalitarian turn of the Fascist regime, in which the concept of ‘race’ was for the first time referred to in a legal provision with reference to the Italian territory.”
The measure was applied by the civil authorities and the police and “became the legal basis for numerous court rulings condemning Pentecostals caught attending worship services, which had become illegal,” Zanini writes.
The Rev’d Dr Leonardo di Chirico, pastor of Breccia di Roma, told Religion Unplugged that although the Italian parliament has been discussing a religious liberty law for 50 years, some evangelical denominations still find it hard to get their ministers recognized by the State. The process of formal recognition is slow, and in most cases, unsuccessful, he said.
In June 2024, Italy’s Supreme Court ruled that Breccia di Roma’s worship space, which is located in a former shop a short distance from the Vatican, does not qualify as a religious edifice due to its non-traditional appearance.
“Saying that religious buildings should have ‘objective characteristics’ [like Catholic church buildings] is both an assault on basic principles of religious freedom and pluralism and an attestation of the crass ignorance of Protestantism,” di Chirico explained.
The court ordered the church to pay some $50,000 in court costs and property tax arrears for what it now classified as “commercial property.” Last March, the European Court of Human Rights rejected an appeal to hear the case.
“The overall system is unfair because it is totally biased in favor of the Roman Catholic Church,” di Chirico lamented. “Evangelical buildings are at times not recognized as religious spaces because they don't look like Roman Catholic churches.”
In public schools, Christianity is taught by Catholic teachers chosen by bishops and paid by taxpayers. The national media broadcaster (RAI) has a Vatican department providing the nation with daily information about the pope and the Catholic church. Almost nothing is done to inform Italians about religious pluralism.
The Rev’d Salvatore Di Filippantonio, who serves as a voluntary “acting chaplain spiritual assistant,” told Religion Unplugged that military regulations prohibit Evangelicals from serving as chaplains for the armed forces.
“An Italian soldier can receive spiritual assistance only upon request and if an Evangelical pastor is willing to visit the barracks to provide spiritual assistance,” Di Filippantonio said. “Unfortunately, we Evangelicals are sometimes seen as enemies or to be kept at a distance.”
Di Filippantonio and his colleague Roberto Cataldi, currently the only two evangelicals permitted to volunteer as military chaplains, have fought an uphill battle since 2012 for the Italian armed forces to recognize evangelicals as armed forces chaplains.
“Between 1915 and 1945, there were lay evangelical chaplains (eight Waldensians, four Methodists, two Baptists, four Rabbis), who were subsequently dismissed by the racial laws,” Di Filippantonio observed.
In comments to Religion Unplugged, Pastor Lorenzo Murrone, co-pastor of the Confessional Lutheran Church of Italy, explained how “non-Roman Catholics have very few avenues to fully exercise their religious rights.”
“If you have enough members and bureaucratic presence, you can try to file for [an agreement] with the State, which, in all cases except the Papacy, is a unilateral concession by the State, not an acknowledgment of natural rights, and can therefore be delayed, rejected, or revoked,” he observed.
Without a formal agreement, you are almost unable to own or build proper worship spaces, access prisons or hospitals for chaplaincy, and so forth. Many Italian evangelicals improvise and gather in informal settings due to a lack of a recognized place to worship.
The pastors are wondering if Leo’s words will make a difference to religious freedom in Italy.
“For centuries, the Catholic church (sadly, in good company with Protestant churches within the context of Christendom) has denied religious freedom,” di Chirico noted. “Vatican II endorsed it but ascribed it to its own tradition. Why not be honest and say it was a U-turn that Rome is still grappling with and learn from?”
Leo’s intervention in “liberalizing religious freedom for fellow Christians would be a true example of ‘practical ecumenism’ by the Pope,” Murrone said. “Ensuring liberties of worship at least in the Vatican’s homeland is a practical goal that can be easily set and pursued.”
Jules Gomes has a doctorate in biblical studies from the University of Cambridge. Currently a Vatican-accredited journalist based in Rome, he is the author of five books and several academic articles. Gomes lectured at Catholic and Protestant seminaries and universities and was canon theologian and artistic director at Liverpool Cathedral.