Italian Episcopal Conference

The Italian Episcopal Conference (Italian: Conferenza Episcopale Italiana) is the episcopal conference of the Italian bishops of theCatholic Church, the official assembly of the bishops in Italy. The conference was founded in 1971 and carries out certain tasks and has the authority to set the liturgical norms for the Mass. Episcopal conferences receive their authority under universal law or particular mandates. Its president has been Angelo Bagnasco since his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI on 7 March 2007.

It is the only bishops conference for which the pope as Primate appoints the President and Secretary-General. In almost all other conferences the president is elected, while the secretary-general is elected in all others.^[a] Vatican sources suggested in August 2013 thatPope Francis, as part of a more general reform of the national bishops conferences to promote collegiality, is considering allowing the Italian bishops to elect their own officers