Logo of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Italy (ELCI)The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Italy (ELCI) was founded in October 1949, after W.W.II, but its fifteen parishes are much older than the Church itself by some extent. The oldest parish is Venice, which was founded as a secret association by German merchants during the time of the Reformation. The parish Triest was founded 1778, the one in Rome in 1819, and the one in Naples in 1826. Then, the foundation of the parish Milan (1850) and the parish Bolzano (1889).

The youngest parishes are the two of Turin and Verona-Gardone, which joined the ELCI in 2008 (Verona) and 2009 (Turin). The parish Torre Annunziata, south of Naples, emerged after W.W.II from the missionary work of the Italian Reverend Idelmo Poggioli. She joined the ELCI in 1957 and is diaconically active until today (kindergarden, elementary school, social centre, theatre workshop).

Until W.W.II, the German-speaking foreign parishes in those days were affiliated to the Prussian High Consistory and later submitted to the church offices of the German Evangelical Church (DEK).

Minority in a Roman Catholic Country

The union of various parishes with the ELCI has largely preserved and the self-determination of the parishes and expanded it in addition. The executive bodies of the Church are the synod and the consistory. The synod consists of the pastors and representatives of the various parishes. The consistory is elected by the synod and consists of two clergyman (superintendent and vice-superintendent) and three laymen. The official ELCI headquarters are in Rome, where its central bureau, the Deanery, is located.

With its roughly 7000 members, the ELCI is a Protestant minority in a country, whose inhabitants are part of the Roman Catholic Church for over 94 percent. She is officially accepted by the Italian State. Since 1995, the connections between the both are settled in an agreement (Intesa), which was enacted and obtained validity through the recognition by the Italian Parliament on November 29th, 1995.

Through the new Constitution of the Church from January 4th, 2004, the ELCI is defined as a bilingual church. This is effective regardless of the fact, that the largest portion of its pastors is sent from Germany with temporary contracts due to an agreement with the Evangelical Church of Germany (EKD).

Multifaceted Ecumenical Commitment

The ELCI is a ecumenically open church, who is original member of the national Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy (FECI) together with the Waldensians, the Methodists, the Baptists, and the Salvation Army. It maintains multifaceted contacts to the Catholic Church. It maintains international contacts and is member of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE and the Leuenberg Church Fellowship) as well as the Conference of European Churches (CEC).

Moreover, there is a close connection to the Evangelical Church of Germany (EKD) and the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD). They placed a partnership contract with the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovenia, which became effective on as of January 1st, 2000 and with the Evangelical Church A.B. in Austria (2007).

The ELCI experiences multifaceted companionship and support through the “Gustav-Adolf-Werk” and the Martin Luther Association from Germany. While this relationship was largely affected by financial support from Germany in the past, it now developed into a partnership on mutual terms in the financial department during the last few years as well. Financial support abroad are since then being executed not only via the LWF but exclusively via both these partners. They warrant the efficient and goal-oriented allocation of resources with their factual competence, which a small church like ELCI cannot establish.

The ELCI is also engaged in Christian-Jewish talks and member of the European Lutheran Commission for Church and Judaism (ELCCJ), who is leading this conversation intensively for a long time.