Italy: Chronology

1843 • Boston, MassachusettsJoseph Toronto (born Giuseppe Taranto), the first known Italian convert to the Church, was baptized.

October 1849 • Salt Lake City, UtahDuring general conference, Brigham Young announced the opening of a mission in Italy.

June 25, 1850 • Genoa, ItalyLorenzo Snow of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, T. B. H. Stenhouse, and Joseph Toronto arrived in Italy.

August 1850 • Palermo, ItalyToronto preached the gospel in his hometown among his friends and family.

September 1850 • Torre Pellice, ItalyLorenzo Snow, T. B. H. Stenhouse, and Jabez Woodard dedicated Italy for the preaching of the gospel.

October 27, 1850 • ItalyJean Antoine Bosc was baptized by Lorenzo Snow, becoming the first convert baptized in Italy.

November 1850 • ItalyJabez Woodard was called to preside over the mission in Italy. Lorenzo Snow traveled to England to oversee the printing of the Book of Mormon in Italian.

1851 • Italy

John Daniel Malan Sr. was ordained an elder and became the first to be ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood in Italy.

1851 • Angrogna, ItalyThe Angrogna Branch, the first branch in present-day Italy, was organized.

March 1851–April 1852 • ItalyThe Book of Mormon was translated into Italian, and 1,000 copies of Il Libro di Mormon were printed.

1854–71 • ItalyConverts from the Waldensian faith began immigrating to Salt Lake City, many with the help of the Perpetual Emigrating Fund.

1867 • ItalyThe Italian Mission was closed. During the 17 years of the Italian Mission, about 180 converts were baptized. Only 6 members remained in Italy.

1944–45 • ItalyDuring World War II and its aftermath, groups of Latter-day Saint servicemen were organized throughout Italy.

1951–65 • SwitzerlandThe Swiss Mission translated and published new editions of the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price in Italian.

1964 • ItalyThe Swiss Mission organized an Italian district with branches throughout Italy.

March 1966 • Brescia, ItalyThe first Italian-speaking branch was organized with Leopoldo Larcher as the branch president. An Italian-speaking branch in Palermo was organized in May.

August 2, 1966 • Florence, ItalyThe Italian Mission was organized with John Duns Jr. as mission president.

November 10, 1966 • Torre PelliceEzra Taft Benson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles rededicated Italy on the same site where Lorenzo Snow had done so 116 years earlier.

December 1966 • PalermoThe first Relief Society in Italy was organized in Palermo.

June 1967 • ItalyLa Stella, the Italian-language magazine of the Church, was first published.

July 1967 • French-Belgian MissionAlfredo Mandice, a member of the Turin Branch, became the first Italian to serve a full-time mission.

1970s • ItalyMembers and missionaries produced brief audio and video presentations about the Church, which were broadcast throughout the country. This outreach continued for many years.

July 1, 1971 • Milan and RomeThe Italian Mission was divided into the Italy North and Italy South Missions.

September 1972 • ItalyHarold B. Lee, President of the Church, and other Church leaders from Salt Lake City traveled to Italy, toured the country, and visited with members.

1975–77 • RomeLeopoldo and Maria Larcher presided over the Italy Rome Mission. They were the first native couple to preside over a mission in Italy.

January 1980 • MilanA regional office of the Presiding Bishopric was opened in Milan with Italian employees.

June 1980 • Pisa, ItalyThe first Latter-day Saint meetinghouse in Italy was dedicated in Pisa.

1981 • MilanThe first stake in Italy was organized in Milan with Mario V. Vaira as president.

1993 • Zollikofen, SwitzerlandMario V. and Rosa F. Vaira were called as the first temple president and temple matron from Italy. They served in the Bern Switzerland Temple.

February 23, 1993 • RomeOscar Luigi Scalfaro, president of the Italian Republic, granted the Church formal legal status as a religious association.

April 5, 1997 • Salt Lake CityRaimondo Castellani was called as an Area Seventy. He was the first Italian called to this position.

May 9, 1997 • ItalyChurch leaders applied for an intesa. This agreement would allow the Church to operate with greater security and autonomy under Italian law.

2001 • ItalyChurch membership in Italy exceeded 20,000.

2005 • ItalyThe Mormon Helping Hands program was organized in Italy. Members volunteered their time to community service projects throughout the country, including the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

January 9, 2007 • Italy

The Church joined a coalition of religious groups seeking an intesa with the Italian government.

October 4, 2008 • Salt Lake CityThomas S. Monson, President of the Church, announced plans to build a temple in Rome.

October 23, 2010 • RomeThomas S. Monson presided at the groundbreaking of the Rome Italy Temple.

July 30, 2012 • RomeAfter it was accepted by the parliament, Giorgio Napolitano, president of the Italian Republic, signed an intesa with the Church. Currently only 12 faiths have this status.

November 2014 • Vatican CityHenry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency, addressed religious leaders at an interfaith summit on marriage and family.

April 3, 2016 • Salt Lake CityMassimo De Feo was sustained as the first Italian General Authority.

October 23, 2016 • ItalyWith the boundary realignment of the Puglia and Palermo Italy Stakes, all Church members in Italy now live within a stake.

March 10–12, 2019 • RomeWith all 15 of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in attendance, President Russell M. Nelson dedicated the Rome Italy Temple. Earlier in the week, President Nelson met with Pope Francis at the Vatican, the first such meeting between a Church President and the pope.