Where even the Protestants are Catholic: March 10, 2012

By Nathan Vickers

The class enters the Ponte Sant'Angelo Methodist Church in Rome. | Photo by Nathan Vickers.

ROME — Our experience in Italy so far has been one of religious diversity within a deeply Catholic society. Following last night’s visit to the synagogue, we visited a Waldensian/Italian Methodist church, a Russian Orthodox church and the Press Office of the Holy See.

Waldensian Pastor Lucca Barato and British Methodist Pastor, Reverend Kenneth Howcroft ,joined us at Ponte Sant’Angelo Methodist Church, where we learned about Italy’s small but important Protestant community. The church’s sanctuary was tiny, but we were surprised to learn that it draws in about 60 people each Sunday.

“It’s hard to imagine that many people inside there,” said Sarah Laing. “I would have thought it was much less than that.”

Italy’s Protestant community is augmenting quickly due to an increasing immigrant population. Barato and Howcroft both pointed out that Italy’s increasingly diverse population is creating greater demand for religious plurality.

Howcroft said it’s hard to be diverse in a country where Catholicism is completely ingrained in the culture.

“Where religion becomes the culture, the culture becomes the religion,” he said.

Hoda Emam and Raya Jalabi chatting with the Reverend Kenneth G. Howcroft of the Ponte Sant'Angelo Methodist Church. | Photo by Nathan Vickers.

It’s nearly impossible to avoid the Catholic Church in Italy. As Barato joked,”Even the Protestants in Italy are Catholic.”

After a brief worship service at the Methodist Church we visited the Press Office of the Holy See and walked a few blocks to St. Catherine’s Russian Orthodox Church. The building sits upon a steep hill that the Vatican had leveled so the Russian Orthodox Church would not outshine the Catholic Church, according to Professor Goldman.

The beautiful porcelain and gold iconostasis of the church’s two sanctuaries were a wonder to behold.

“I thought it was beautiful,” said our classmate, Brandon Gates, “It’s not something you see everyday, in the churches I go to. But I thought it was appropriate, because if God is the most high… how can we offer reverence but with the finest jewels in the world to worship Him?”

One distinct feature of a Russian Orthodox church is the lack of chairs in the sanctuary. Archpriest Igor Vyzhanov, whose wife and newborn child were also in attendance, made it clear that Russians believe that standing during worship is a sign of piety in a thick Russian accent.

“In the Greek church you will see chairs. In the Lebanese and Syrian churches, chairs. In Serbian church you sometimes see them,” he said, pausing solemnly before frowning and adding, “In Russia we do not use chairs.”

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 10th, 2012 at 11:28 pm. It is filed under Daily Dispatches, Nathan Vickers, Our Journey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.