WITH LEO XIV, BISHOP OF ROME, THE TITLE OF ITALIAN PRIMATE RE-emerges

This definition, remained silent for a long time in official texts, now comes back alive in the voice of the Pontiff as a sign of orientation for the Church and for Italy. After years of mostly universal interpretations of the papacy, Leo XIV wanted to renew the original dimension of his ministry: the Supreme Pontiff is Bishop of Rome and, for this, guide and father of the Churches of Italy.

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Among the words pronounced by the Supreme Pontiff Leo XIV in his recent speech at the Quirinale, the 14 last October, one in particular resonated with theological force and historical intensity: «As Bishop of Rome and Primate of Italy».

This definition, remained silent for a long time in official texts, now comes back alive in the voice of the Pontiff as a sign of orientation for the Church and for Italy. After years of mostly universal interpretations of the papacy, Leo XIV wanted to renew the original dimension of his ministry: the Supreme Pontiff is Bishop of Rome and, for this, guide and father of the Churches of Italy.

The title of Primate of Italy expresses the ecclesiological truth that unites the universal Church to its concrete roots, tracing the primacy of Peter back to the sacramental source and the communion of the local Churches (cf.. The light, 22; The Eternal Shepherd, cap. (II)). In the vision of the Second Vatican Council, the Petrine function is never separated from the episcopal and collegial dimension: the Bishop of Rome, as successor of Peter, exercises a presidency of charity and unity (The light, 23), which is rooted in its own episcopal see. In this sense,, the title of Primate of Italy does not represent a legal privilege, but a theological and ecclesial sign that manifests the intimate connection between the universal primacy of the Roman Pontiff and his paternity over the Churches of Italy. As Saint John Paul II reminds us, the ministry of the Bishop of Rome "is at the service of the unity of faith and communion of the Church" (To be one, 94), and it is precisely from this communion that the national and local dimension of his pastoral concern arises.

In the Catholic hierarchy of the Latin Church, at the beginning of the second millennium, primate bishops are also envisaged, prelates who with that title - only honorific - are in charge of the oldest and most important dioceses of states or territories, without any prerogative (cf.. Pontifical Yearbook, ed. 2024). The Bishop of Rome is the Primate of Italy: ancient title, implemented over the centuries and still in force today, although with different prerogatives that have occurred over time.

Over the centuries other bishops in the Peninsula have had the honorific title of Primate: the Metropolitan Archbishop of Pisa maintains the title of Primate of the islands of Corsica and Sardinia, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Cagliari bears the title of Primate of Sardinia, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Palermo maintains the title of Primate of Sicily, and the Metropolitan Archbishop of Salerno as Primate of the Kingdom of Naples (cf.. Pontifical Yearbook, sez. “Metropolitan and Primate Headquarters”).

The territorial scope referred to by the term Italy was varied: from suburban Italy of the first Christian centuries, to Gothic and Lombard Italy, until the Kingdom of Italy incorporated into the Roman-German Empire, substantially made up of northern Italy and the Papal State. This primacy did not concern the territories of the former patriarchate of Aquileia, nor the territories forming part of Germanic kingdom — the current Trentino-Alto Adige, Trieste and Istria —, later belonged to the Austrian Empire. Today the primacy of Italy is implemented on a territory corresponding to that of the Italian Republic, of the Republic of San Marino and the Vatican City State (cf.. Pontifical Yearbook, ed. 2024, sez. “Primal Headquarters and Territories”).

The notion of "Italy" applied to ecclesiastical jurisdiction it has never had a political value, but an eminently pastoral and symbolic meaning, connected to the unifying function of the Bishop of Rome as a center of communion between the particular Churches of the Peninsula. Since the late ancient era, indeed, the suburbicaria regio designated the territory that, by ancient custom, recognized the direct dependence on the Roman See (cf.. Pontifical Book, vol. I, ed. Duchesne). Over the centuries, while changing civil constituencies and state structures, the spiritual dimension of primacy has remained constant, as an expression of ecclesial unity and the apostolic tradition of the Peninsula.

In the two thousand years of Christianity, the people of the Peninsula and the episcopate itself have constantly looked to the Roman See, both in the ecclesiastical and civil spheres. In 452 the Bishop of Rome, Leone I, at the request of Emperor Valentinian III, he was part of the embassy that went to northern Italy to meet the king of the Huns Attila, in an attempt to dissuade him from proceeding with his advance towards Rome (cf.. Prosper d'Aquitania, Chronicon, to a year 452).

They are the Popes of Rome who, in centuries, support the Municipalities against the imperial powers: the Guelph party - and in particular Charles of Anjou - becomes the instrument of papal power throughout the Peninsula. The Roman Pontiff will appear as the friend of the Municipalities, the protector of Italian liberties, contributing to dissolving the very idea of ​​Empire understood as the holder of full sovereignty, in favor of widespread and multiple sovereignty.

The concept of jurisdiction will be expressed clearly by Bartolo da Sassoferrato (1313-1357): it is not understood only as the power of speaking the law, but above all as the complex of powers necessary for the governance of a system that is not centralized in the hands of a single person or body (cf.. Bartolo of Saxoferrato, Treatise on Jurisdiction, in All works, New York, 1588, vol. IX). In this pluralistic vision of law, the Apostolic See represents the principle of balance and justice among the multiple forms of sovereignty that develop in the Peninsula, placing itself as a guarantor of the order and freedom of Christian communities.

Even in the 19th century, Vincenzo Gioberti proposed the neo-Guelph ideal and a confederation of Italian states under the presidency of the Roman Pontiff, outlining a vision in which the spiritual authority of the Pope should have acted as a principle of moral and political unity of the Peninsula (cf.. V. Gioberti, Of the moral and civil primacy of the Italiansi, Bruxelles 1843, lib. (II), cap. 5). In tune, Antonio Rosmini also recognized the Apostolic See as the foundation of the Christian political order, while distinguishing between spiritual power and temporal power, in a perspective that intended to heal the fracture between Church and nation (cf.. A. Rosmini, The Five Wounds of the Holy Church, Lugano 1848, Part II, cap. 1).

The title of Primate of Italy, in the modern age, he was therefore referring to the Bishop of Rome, ruler of a vast territory and head of a sprawling state, like others, in the Peninsula. The territory of primacy, Consequently, it was not identified with that of a single state, but it overlapped with the plurality of political jurisdictions of the time. If he Concordat of Worms (1122) had attributed to the Popes of Rome the power to confirm the appointment of bishops, in Italy — or rather in Kingdom of Italy, including central-northern Italy —, over the centuries the choice of bishops was agreed with the territorial sovereigns, according to the customs of European states: or through backhoe presentations, the first of which was generally the chosen one, or with a single designation by the prince holding the right of patronage, as also happened for the Kingdom of Sicily (cf.. Bullarium Romanum, t. V, Rome 1739).

The involvement of the state authority often determined a substantial balance between State and Church, in which the recognition of the respective spheres of action allowed the Apostolic See to maintain its influence on episcopal appointments, albeit within the boundaries of the concordats and sovereign privileges.

In the midst of the jurisdictionalist era of the 18th century, Episcopalian claims found no space in the episcopate of the Peninsula, nor the Gallican or Germanic ones, despite some Italian princes trying to comply, if not patronize, such theories (cf.. P. Study Program, Jurisdictionalism in the history of Italian political thought, Bologna 1968). In Tuscany, state interference in religious matters reached its full implementation under Grand Duke Peter Leopold (1765-1790). Animated by sincere religious fervor, the Grand Duke believed he was carrying out a work of true devotion and piety when he worked to combat the abuses of ecclesiastical discipline, superstitions, the corruption and ignorance of the clergy.

At first no protest was raised by the Tuscan episcopate, or because he saw the futility of opposing, or because he approved those measures; maybe even why, in the Tuscan episcopate as in the clergy, there was an antipathy towards religious orders and a form of autonomy from the Holy See was willingly accepted. However, in the general synod of Florence of 1787, all the bishops of the State - except Scipione de' Ricci and two others - rejected these reforms, reaffirming fidelity to communion with the Roman Pontiff and defending the integrity of ecclesiastical tradition (cf.. Proceedings of the Synod of Florence, 1787, arch. the court of Florence).

The Catholic Church has always fought the formation of national churches, since such attempts are in open contrast with the very structure of ecclesial communion and with the ancient canonical discipline. Already the dog. XXXIV day Canons of the Apostles — a collection dating back to the 4th century, around the year 380 — prescribed a fundamental principle of episcopal unity:

It is agreed that the bishop should know the individual nations, because he is considered the first among them, whom they regard as their head and bear nothing more than his consent, than those alone, which parishes [in greco τῇ paroiᾳ] proper and the towns that are under it are competent. But neither should he do anything apart from the conscience of all; for thus there will be unanimity and God is glorified through Christ in the Holy Spirit (“The bishops of each nation must know who among them is the first and consider him as their leader, and do not do anything important without his consent; each will only deal with what concerns their own diocese and the territories that depend on it; but he who is first must also do nothing without the consent of all: thus harmony will reign and God will be glorified through Christ in the Holy Spirit.”)

This rule, of an apostolic flavor and synodal matrix, affirms the principle of unity in collegiality, where primacy is not domination, but communion service. This conception, assumed and deepened in the Catholic tradition, found its full expression in the doctrine of Roman primacy. As Pope Leo XIII teaches:

«the Church of Christ is one by nature, and as one is Christ, so one must be one's body, his faith is one, his doctrine is one, and one his head visible, established by the Redeemer in the person of Peter" (Well known, 9).

As a result, any attempt to found particular churches or national independent from the Apostolic See has always been rejected as contrary to a, holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. The subordination of the episcopal college to the Petrine primacy constitutes in fact the bond of unity that guarantees the catholicity of the Church and preserves the individual particular Churches from the risk of isolation or doctrinal deviation (cf.. The light of the nationm, 22; Christ the Lord, 4).

The title of Primate, attributed to some locations, it was actually a mere honorific, like that of Patriarch conferred on some episcopal sees of the Latin rite (cf.. Code of Canon Law, can. 438). Such dignity, of an exclusively ceremonial nature, it did not carry effective jurisdictional power, nor a direct authority over the other dioceses of a specific ecclesiastical region. The title was intended to honor the age or particular historical relevance of an episcopal seat, according to a practice consolidated in the second millennium.

However, the position is different and above all the prerogatives of the two primate seats of Italy and Hungary, which preserve a singular juridical-ecclesial physiognomy within the Latin Church. According to a centuries-old tradition, the Prince-Primate of Hungary is covered with both ecclesiastical and civil duties. Between these, the privilege of crowning the sovereign — a privilege last exercised on 30 December 1916 for the coronation of King Charles IV of Habsburg by St. E. Mons. János Cernoch, then Archbishop of Esztergom - and to replace him in case of temporary impediment (cf.. Journal of the Holy See, vol. XLIX, 1917).

Hungarian primacy it is attributed to the archiepiscopal seat of Esztergom (today Esztergom-Budapest), whose ancient primacy dignity dates back to the 11th century, when King Stephen I obtained from the Pope the foundation of the Hungarian national Church under the direct protection of the Apostolic See. L'Archivescovo di Esztergom, as Primate of Hungary, enjoys a special position over all Catholics present in the State and a power quasi-governmental on bishops and metropolitans, including the metropolis of Hajdúdorog for the Hungarian faithful of the Byzantine rite. There is a primary court near him, always presided over by him, which judges cases in third instance: a privilege founded on an immemorial custom, rather than on an express legal norm (cf.. Code of Canon Law, can. 435; Pontifical YearbookO, sez. “Primary Headquarters”, ed. 2024). He is a Hungarian citizen, resident in the State, and often also holds the position of President of the Hungarian Episcopal Conference, exercising a mediation function between the Apostolic See and the local Church.

Italian primacy, attributed to the Roman See, It has a very particular configuration: its owner, the Bishop of Rome, he can be - and in fact in recent pontificates he has been - a non-Italian citizen. He is sovereign of a foreign state, the Vatican City State, not part of the European Union, and does not belong to the Italian Episcopal Conference, while maintaining direct authority over it. By virtue of his title of Primate of Italy, the Roman Pontiff in fact appoints the President and General Secretary of the Italian Episcopal Conference, as required by the art. 4 §2 of the CEI Statute, which expressly recalls «the particular bond that unites the Church in Italy to the Pope, Bishop of Rome and Primate of Italy" (cf.. Statute of the Italian Episcopal Conference, approved by Paul VI 2 July 1965, updated in 2014).

This singular legal configuration shows how Italian primacy, despite having no autonomous administrative structure, retains a real ecclesiological function, as a visible expression of the organic bond between the universal Church and the Churches of Italy. In this the continuity of the Petrine primacy is manifested in its dual dimension: universal, as a service to the communion of the whole Church, and local, as pastoral paternity exercised on Italian territory (The light, 22–23).

An opening is thus outlined the end of the Church to international and global problems, something which is also found in some paragraphs of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, dedicated to human rights, to international solidarity, to the right to religious freedom of various peoples, to the protection of emigrants and refugees, to the condemnation of totalitarian regimes and the promotion of peace. What is most relevant is the invitation, incitement, of the Church a to complete the good it is not only anchored to the eternal salvation, to the achievement of the otherworldly goal, but also to the contingent, to the immanent needs of man in need of material help.

Based on the claimed primacy and pursuant to art. 26 the Lateran Treaty, the pastoral action of the Pontiff himself takes place in several regions of Italy, through visits to many cities and sanctuaries, carried out without these presenting themselves as trips to foreign countries. The widespread practice of considering the Pope of Rome as the first Bishop of Italy means that Italian events are often present in his speeches or speeches.. He often visits areas of the Peninsula where painful events have occurred, and the presence of the Pope is seen by the populations as dutiful, requested as a sign of comfort and help. It also comes back, in the broad sense of primacy, receiving delegations from Italian state bodies. In this perspective, the figure of the Roman Pontiff as Primate of Italy takes on the value of a sign of communion between the Church and the Nation, in the line of the universal mission that he exercises as successor of Peter. The national dimension of his pastoral concern is not opposed, but rather it integrates, with the Catholic mission of the Apostolic See, because the Pope is also Bishop of Rome, Father of the Churches of Italy and Pastor of the universal Church (Preach the Gospel, art. 2).

The triple dimension of his ministry — diocesan, national and universal — makes that visible the unity of the Church that faith professes and history bears witness to. Thus the title of Primate of Italy, resurfaced in the voice of Leo XIV, it does not appear as a remnant of past honors, but as a living reminder of the spiritual responsibility of the Papacy towards the Italian people, in continuity with his apostolic mission towards all people.

Velletri of Rome, 16 October 2025

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