The President of Italy has formally signed a decree which recognizes seven years of preparation by the Church of England to have official status in the country and be recognised as a denomination. It was granted after careful and detailed examination of the Ministero dell’Interno (Italian Home Office) the Direzione Centrale degli Affari dei culti (central department for religious affairs) and Consiglio di Stato (advisory body of the Italian government on administrative matters and their legal implications, with the approval of the Consiglio dei Ministri (Italian Cabinet). It gives legal status to the association Chiesa d’Inghilterra and accepts its statutes.
Even most Italians, I suspect, would be unaware of the irony here: that they already have had an Anglican Prime Minister, Sidney Sonnino, who served 1906 and 1909-10. I believe that he is buried in an Anglican cemetery in Italy. See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Sonnino
But I wonder why they chose Chiesa d’Inghilterra rather than Chiesa Anglicana? The latter word is well known through the Centro Anglicano in Rome.
Hope they are wise enough to avoid such a recognition of TEC, lest all of Italy belong to 815 under the Dennis Canon.