‘A significant step’: The Gospel goes forth in Italy

Tourists drive by a line of Lutheran pastors preparing to process for the ordination of the Rev. Lorenzo Murrone and the Rev. Joshua Salas on Saturday, May 31, in Rome. The service was held in a church currently being rented by Christus Victor Lutheran Church, a local congregation of the Confessional Lutheran Church of Italy. (LCMS/Erik M. Lunsford)

By Roy S. Askins

It might not seem surprising to see a group of pastors, vested and preparing for a procession, on a sidewalk
outside a church building in Rome. But a group of Lutheran pastors? What’s happening here?

This small gathering of Lutheran pastors represents a significant step in the work of the Confessional Lutheran Church of Italy (CLCI). While the young church is still in the beginning stages of development, through the dedicated work of Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) missionaries and organizations, two men were recently ordained as CLCI pastors by the Rev. Dr. Juhana Pohjola, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland.

The new pastors, the Rev. Lorenzo Murrone and the Rev. Joshua Salas, will work as bivocational pastors, caring for Christus Victor Lutheran Church in Rome. As reported in Lutherans Engage the World last year, Murrone and Salas became aware of confessional Lutheranism via the social media channels of several LCMS pastors in the United States. They reached out to the LCMS Office of International Mission and were connected with LCMS missionaries in Eurasia, eventually studying at Riga Luther Academy. Now their journey to Lutheranism has come full circle.

As Murrone and Salas serve in Rome, LCMS missionary Rev. Tyler McMiller will continue to serve around the rest of the Italian peninsula, in preaching stations from Padua in northern Italy to Carovigno in the south. The work includes proclaiming the Gospel to Italians as well as to transplants to Italy, of whom there are many.

The interest in Lutheran theology in Italy stems from a number of factors, but the Lutheran teaching on Christ is foremost: “It goes back to the theology of the cross and the theology of suffering,” McMiller said. “How we preach Christ crucified, and how firmly and strongly we as Lutherans understand that we have a God who understands our suffering” drives much of this interest.

Lutherans in Italy work to keep this interest growing through regular theological conferences. In conjunction with the ordination service, the LCMS Eurasia region hosted a conference addressing “Holy Scripture and Divine Inspiration.”

So, what’s happening in Rome? In Italy? The Gospel of Jesus Christ is going forth, proclaimed in Word and deed by LCMS missionaries, Lutheran pastors and a host of partners dedicated to seeing the pure Gospel take root in a place that — like the whole world — desperately needs to hear it.

Posted July 25, 2025