Draft:United Protestant Church of Itay

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United Protestant Church of Italy
Abbreviation	CPU
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Lutheran, Episcopal, Anglican
Theology	Lutheran doctrine, Anglican doctrine
Polity	Episcopal
Structure	Episcopal Synod
Bishop Primus	Andrea Panerini
Associations	Free Protestant Episcopal Church
Region	Italy, Malta
Liturgy	Book of Common Prayer, Various liturgies
Headquarters	Prato
Founder	Andrea Panerini
Separated from	Roman Catholic Church, Waldensians
Members	a few hundred
Official website	http://www.chiesaprotestanteunita.org

History and Identity

In 2016, the United Protestant Church of Italy was born, a communion of local evangelical Churches, the largest of which is in Florence and Prato, with a national Synod. It understands itself as Lutheran inspired by Lutheran doctrine and the Augsburg Confession in addition to Luther's five solas, while being open to other theological, pastoral and liturgical experiences such as the Methodism, Presbyterianism and Anglican Communion. It is a synodal episcopal Church, like most Lutheran Churches: the figure of the primate bishop himself is subject to the General Synod which is the highest earthly authority of the Church.

The current Primate Bishop is Pastor Andrea Panerini, elected on 31 October 2021, the feast of the Reformation, the first openly homosexual bishop elected in the Christian Churches in Italy.

The Church's motto is borrowed from Augustine of Hippo: In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas (Unity in necessary things [of faith], in doubt freedom, in everything charity).

He has applied to join the Lutheran World Federation and the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy, but has so far been unsuccessful, also due to the misunderstandings with CELI (Church of Germans Lutheran in Italy). He is the Italian representative of the Free Protestant Episcopal Church, a worldwide communion of Anglican and Episcopal Churches. He recognizes himself in the Porvoo Communion.

It understands itself as a Protestant Church in that it places itself in continuity with the Reformation of the 16th century and the theology of the Reformers, as a united Church in that it gathers together several traditions and rites within itself and as a Catholic Church in that the Greek adjective Katholikos means "universal" and we adhere to Luther's vision of a reformed Catholicism purged of superstitions, beliefs and practices not in conformity with Sacred Scripture without however the rigidity in rejecting traditions and liturgies typical of the Western Church.

A Plural Church

Like many Lutheran and Episcopal churches in the world, it is divided into three main theological and liturgical sensibilities:

- High Church: of Lutheran-Episcopal and Episcopalian sensibilities.

- Middle or Latitudinarian Church: of Evangelical Lutheran and Methodist sensibilities.

- Low Church: of more Reformed, Calvinist and Presbyterian sensibilities.

Each individual believer and community belongs to one or more sensibilities and various liturgies are authorized: from the Book of Common Prayers to Lutheran-Methodist liturgies to Reformed ones, often complementary and co-present in Divine Services and other community moments. Under the guidance of Jesus Christ, the only Head of the Church, communion is guaranteed by the General Synod and the Primate Bishop, who are recognized as authorities not only administrative but also of faith (in which the Primate Bishop is also subject to the synodal assembly).

Confession of faith and ethics

In the 2016 Florence Confession of Faith, it is a document that, in the tradition of the Reformation, raises issues such as respect for Creation, anti-speciesism and the rejection of capitalism. Article VIII of this Confession states:

We believe that economic and political systems that do not place the dignity of the human being and of Creation at the center and that do not pursue social justice and peace are contrary to God's plan for humanity and to His Law.

Therefore, the United Protestant Church also has a theological, cultural, political and ethical connotation that is decidedly more radical than many historic Protestant confessions, in the hope of overcoming existing denominations. It has opened the doors to the pastorate of women and transgender people and of all sexual and gender orientations, celebrates marriages between people of the same sex, participating, albeit from a critical position, in gay pride and LGBTQ demonstrations and receiving threats and criticism from fundamentalists and right-wing political circles. On the other hand, its 2018 synodal document in which it declared itself against pregnancy for others (otherwise known as rented wombs) has caused much discussion, even if the main reason was given by the possibility of exploitation of the female body associated with the possible buying and selling of children in the context of the capitalist system.

Reflection on Creation and animals is considered important for a collaboration with environmental and animal rights associations.

Structures

The United Protestant Church publishes an online newspaper Nuovi Avvenimenti, has a web TV called Agape Tv and publishes books in collaboration with the publisher La Bancarella of Piombino.

References

[1]