Catholic Church in Italy

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Catholic Church in Italy
Italian: Chiesa cattolica in Italia
Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome, the cathedra seat of the Pope as Primate of Italy.
Type	National polity
Classification	Catholic
Orientation	Latin
Scripture	Bible
Theology	Catholic theology
Polity	Episcopal
Governance	Episcopal Conference of Italy
Pope	Francis
President	Matteo Maria Zuppi
Primate	Pope Francis
Apostolic Nuncio	Petar Rajič
Region	Italy, Vatican City
Language	Italian, Latin
Headquarters	Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran
Founder	Apostles Peter and Paul
Origin	1st century Rome, Roman Empire
Members	57,000,000
Official website	Episcopal Conference of Italy

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The Italian Catholic Church, or Catholic Church in Italy, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the Pope in Rome, under the Conference of Italian Bishops. The pope serves also as Primate of Italy and Bishop of Rome. In addition to the Italian Republic, two other sovereign states are included in Italian dioceses: San Marino and Vatican City. There are 225 dioceses in the Catholic Church in Italy, see further in this article and in the article List of Catholic dioceses in Italy.

The pope resides in Vatican City, enclaved in Rome. Having been a major center for Christian pilgrimage since the Roman Empire, Rome is commonly regarded as the "home" of the Catholic Church, since it is where Saint Peter settled, ministered, served as bishop, and died.^[1] His relics are located in Rome along with Saint Paul's, among many other saints of Early Christianity.

Owing to the Italian Renaissance, church art in Italy is extraordinary, including works by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Fra Carnevale, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Sandro Botticelli, Tintoretto, Titian, Raphael, and Giotto, etc.

Italian church architecture is equally spectacular and historically important to Western culture, notably St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, Cathedral of St. Mark's in Venice, and Brunelleschi's Florence Cathedral, which includes the "Gates of Paradise" doors at the Baptistery by Lorenzo Ghiberti.

The status of the Catholic Church as the sole official religion in Italy ended in 1985, with the renegotiation of the Lateran Treaty.