History of the Orthodox Church in Italy
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The presence of Orthodox Christianity in Sicily and Italy has its strength in the Greek diaspora, where cities like Syracuse, Messina, and Ragusa were founded by Greek colonists and were part of Magna Graecia before the conquest by the Romans.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the southern areas of Italy, such as Sicily, Puglia, Calabria remained under the control of the Byzantine Empire until the Norman conquest in the 11th century brought the Italo-Greeks once again under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church. The Greeks bishops were replaced by Roman bishops and many churches, monasteries and convents were suppressed or destroyed. In 1054, the Great Schism divided the Roman Catholic and the Greek Orthodox Churches. By 1200, this division was essentially realized in Sicily and Southern Italy with the gradual appointment by the Norman kings of Latin bishops.
The Italo-Byzantine Monastery of St. Mary of Grottaferrata, 20 kilometers south of Rome, was founded by St. Nilus of Rossano in 1004, fifty years before the division between the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox Church and remains to this day an enclave of Byzantine tradition under the Roman jurisdiction. The immigration of Albanian Orthodox to Southern Italy contributed to a brief revival of Orthodoxy in the fifteenth century, but soon the Albanians were assimilated under the Roman Church, which preserved their autonomy by creating the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church, of Byzantine Rite.
The Italo-Greek Orthodox Church went underground, and the Bishops used to move to avoid persecution. Consequently, they were referred to as bishops residing in a given place, rather than as diocesan territorial overseers. However, due to its small numbers and persistent persecution by their Roman Catholic brothers, the Italo-Greek Orthodox Church became almost extinct and there were times when gaps existed in the hierarchy. Due to the persecution, comes the belief that there were many married bishops ordained secretly, although this practice was not endorsed by the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Nevertheless, the Church has survived to this day and is experiencing a period of revitalization.
After the fall of Constantinople, many Greeks sought refuge in Italy and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople nominated a Metropolitan residing in Venice from 1537 to 1797. After the Napoleonic era until 1922, the Orthodox communities in Italy remained disorganised and dependent upon visiting priests and bishops. The continuation of that presence is represented by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Italy, which was established and created in 1991 by an act of the Holy Synod of the Church of Constantinople (Ecumenical Patriarchate).
There is today the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Italy and several Italian parishes under other canonical authorities.
Beside those above, there are smaller, independent organizations, like the Orthodox Church in Italy, which 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 have adhered to it. The Bishop Antonio has sought fellowship with Greek Old Calendarists and the Bulgarian Alternatve Synod. And another group is the Patriarchal Metropolitan of Aquilea founded in 1983 by Evloghios, a priest of a Russian parish in Milan, following the Old Calendarist tradition. It is essentially independent, with followers in Italy, Switzerland, France, and North America.
