CHIESE PROTESTANTI ITALIANE. – The so-called C. p. i., some of which have continued their feeble existence down to our own day, are as follows:
1) The “Independent Church” or “Christian Evangelical Church” (1854–65), founded by Luigi de Sanctis (1808–69) and Bonaventura Mazzarella (1818–89) when both separated from the Waldensians. Because of internal dissensions, and because not a few of the followers of the new Church were attracted to Plymouthism, introduced into Italy by P. GUICCIARDINI, FRANCESCO (v.), de Sanctis returned to Waldensianism, while Mazzarella, occupied with public and private affairs, lost interest in II. Deprived of their leaders, 20 independent Congregations joined Gavazzi (v.) and, with the assistance of various foreign Protestants, formed a new Church at the Congress of Bologna in 1865, namely: 2) the “Free Italian Church” (1865–89), also called the “Free Christian Church,” which lasted until Gavazzi’s death (1889), lived on foreign aid, granted chiefly by the Scottish Presbyterian MacDougall, and unsuccessfully attempted to unite with the Waldensians. 3) “Italian Evangelical Church” (1889–1905). Upon Gavazzi’s death, the Free Church adopted a name more in keeping with those of the other Protestant sects and called itself the “Italian Evangelical Church”; it was established as a juridical person by royal decree of 2 July 1891. But this Church too fell to pieces because of the inexperience and errors of its leader Luigi Fera, and its assets were absorbed by the American and English Methodist missions, so that it ceased to be a juridical person (1905). A few of the faithful who did not wish to become Methodists constituted themselves as a simple association, which continued (1905–29) under the same name and under the direction of Notarbartolo, assisted by the “Italian Section in behalf of the Evangelical Church of Italy,” which formed part of an American Protestant society. Finally, with the exception of a few who continued to remain grouped under the same name, a new organization was established in 1929: 4) the “Protestant-Presbyterian National Church of Italy.” The followers of this sect, which has about twenty stations, maintain that they represent the genuine Italian Protestant element, in opposition to Italian Protestants affiliated with foreign sects.
To these small Churches, deriving one from another and culminating in the last-mentioned one, should be added, at least as a matter of historical information, several others, such as the “Italian Catholic Church” (v. CAMPANELLO); the “Liberal Catholic Church,” which in 1932 had a secretariat in Milan; the “Free Catholic Church,” which was intended to be founded after the publication of the encyclical Fascendi; and the “Italian National Catholic Church,” devoid of any importance, whose founder and vicar general was Luigi Prota-Giurleo.