Orthodox Church in Italy

The Orthodox Church in Italy (Italian: Chiesa Ortodossa in Italia, Chiesa Vecchio-Cattolica in Italia) is an effort to establish a national Orthodox church in Italy, bringing all the Orthodox parishes and missions under an Italian Metropolitan, but only some independent groups adhered to it.

It was founded in 1991 by Italian Orthodox Bishop Antonio De Rosso, a former Roman Catholic priest, who became bishop of Apria and Lazio under the jurisdiction of Metropolitan Kyprianos Koutsoumpas, of the Orthodox Church of Greece (Holy Synod in Resistance). In 1993, the church joined the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and in 1995, De Rosso was enthroned bishop of Ravenna and Italy.

After 1997, the church remained linked with Patriarch Pimen Enew (; )'s Bulgarian Orthodox Church – Alternative synod and De Rosso became Metropolitan of Ravenna and Italy. During that year, the church was recognized as an autonomous church and De Rosso became a full member of the Bulgarian alternative synod. De Rosso sought fellowship with Greek Old Calendarists and the Bulgarian alternative synod. The Orthodox Church in Italy was in full communion with the Bulgarian alternative synod, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchy and some small churches.

After De Rosso died in 2009, the church became an association in memory of him, Associazione "Metropolita Antonio".

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