human rights of the Waldenses, and proclaimed relig- ious toleration; but the restored monarchies revived some of the most intolerant laws, and even the Wal- denses were placed in so unbearable a position that it retiuired the intervention of England and Prussia to se- cure for them the merest toleration. At length tlic lib- eral constitution of 1818 gave them fidl political rights in Sardinia; they were allowed to step forward out of their seclusion in the valley, and, with the most liearty sympathy of all friends of religious toleration, opened a chapel in the capital of the kingdom, Turin. In the re- mainder of Italy the persecution of the Protestants con- tinued. The government of Tuscany, though by no means the most tyrannical of the Italian governments, startled the whole civilized world by its cruel measures against the Madiai couple, against count Guicciardini . and Dominico Cecchetti, and only the most energetic remonstrances of the foreign powers prevailed upon the grand-didic to change the penalty of imprisonment into exile. Finally, in 1859, the establishment of the king- dom of Italy gave to the Waldenses the liberty of ex- tending their evangelistic labors to all parts of the pe- ninsula. They soon occupied a number of important places, transferred their theological seminary to Flor- ence, and had an able representative in the Italian Par- liament (the Turin banker IMalan). Many Italians, however, who were eager to embrace Protestant views, did not share all the views of the Waldenses, especially those on the ministry and the Church, and, after the model of the Plymouth Brethren in England, organized free Christian organizations. Of their leaders, professor ISIazarella and count Guicciardini are the best known. Jloreover, a number of missionaries were sent out by the Protestant churches of the United States, Great Britain, and other countries, who laid the foundation of several other Church organizations. Nearly every town of im- portance has thus receivetl the nucleus of a Protestant popidation. In some places the fanaticism Of the priests caused riots against Protestants, none of which was so bloody as that in Barletta in 1800; but the government of Italy, and the immense majority of the Italian Par- liaments, have secured the complete triumph of the cause of religious toleration.
II. Statistics. — Nearly the whole population of It- aly is nominally connected with the Roman Catholic Church. The total population of the kingdom was es- timated in 1870 at 25,760,000 ; of whom 33,000 were Protestants, 30,000 Jews, and 2000 members of the Greek Church. Practically a large portion of the pop- idation is no longer in communion with the Church of Rome, as can easily be proved by tlie fact that the gov- ernment and Parliament have been for years in open conflict with Rome, and utterly disregard and set aside the laws of the Church ; that the claims of the pope have only a few advocates in the Parliament, and that, in particular, the radical party, with men like Jlazzini and Garibakli at their head, have o])enly and formally renounced the religious communion with Rome.
According to the Papal Almanac {Annuario Pontifico) for 1870, the countrj^ had, exclusive of Rome and of the six suburban sees (the sees of the cardinal bishops), Os- tia, Porto, Palestrina, Frascati, Albano, and Sabina, 208 dioceses, which were distributed among the former Ital- ian states as follows :
Arch- bisbop-
Bishop-
bfsi.t- B;f-p-
Naples
25 7 6
4
57 32 19
Venetia
Lombardy
Modena......
Parma
Total
2 9
States of the) Church.../
Sardiuia
Tuscany
1
1
7 4 3
47
2-21
Of these dioceses, 10 archbishopncs and 66 bishoprics are immediately subject to the pope, and without con- nection with an ecclesiastical province, while 37 arch- bishops are heads of ecclesiastical provinces, containing, besides them, 155 suffragan bishops. The dioceses of
ITALY
YIO
ITALY
Italy, in point of territorial extent, are smaller than in any other country ; and wliile the (nominally) Catholic population is no more than one eighth of the Koman Catholic population of the world, it nas more than one fourth of all the dioceses. Thus the Italian bishops have an undue preponderance at every council; and as tliev t^encrally hold the most ultramontane views, they liave considerably contributed to the success of idtra jiapal tlieories within the Catholic Church. The gov- ernment of Italy has expressed a wish to reduce the number of dioceses, and a considerable number has there- lore been kept vacant since the establishment of the kingdom.
The secular clergy in 1866 had about 115,000 mem- bers, or about 1 to every 245 inhabitants, showing a rel- atively larger number of priests than in any other coun- try of the world. Besides the secular clergy, Italy had in 1800 more than 60,000 monks in 2050 establishments, and about 30,000 nuns in 302 establishments. The most numerous among the monastic orders are the Fran- ciscan monks, with 1227 houses; the Dominicans, with 140; the Augustinians, with 138; the Carmelites, with 125; the Jesuits, with 57 ; the Brothers of Charity, with 49; the Redemptorists, with 31; the Franciscan nuns, with 89 ; the Sisters of Charity, with 50. The convents were formerly very rich, but a large portion of their property was confiscated during the French invasion at the en(l of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th cen- tur}'. i\Iore recently the government of Italy has sup- pressed a large portion of all the convents, and confis- cated their property. In 1866, the total number of con- vents suppressed amounted to over 2000, with 38,000 inmates; of these, 1252, with 20,228 inmates, belonged to the mendicant orders, and 1162, with 18,168 inmates, were of other orders.