Metropolitan Antonio De Rosso, head of “Italian Orthodox Church”, 1941-2009

(NFTU) Metropolitan Antonio de Rosso, the head of the “Italian Orthodox Church” formed under the Synod-in-Resistance, reposed Feb 20 (N.S.) at the age of 68.

Originally one of two major groups in Italy (the other of which is now the Milan Synod) which came from the Moscow Patriarchate to the True Orthodox Church of Greece, the “Italian Orthodox Church” church abandoned the use of the traditional calendar and sought out communion with a number of bodies, including the Bulgarian Alternative Synod.

This leaves only one Bishop to operate the Synod: Archbishop Basilio Miceli, formerly of Ostia with the Milan Synod, now Archbishop of Firenze and all Tuscany. A month before his death, he and the late Metr Antonio, in an elaborate ceremony, claimed the title of the Bishop of Aquileia, a title held by Metropolitan Evloghios of Milan.