Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
In our ongoing efforts to preserve and celebrate our Italian-American heritage, values and traditions, the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations (COPOMIAO) recently traveled to Italy for important meetings at the Vatican and in Rome.
At the Vatican, our delegation of 35 Italian-American organization presidents was afforded the honor of meeting with Pope Leo XIV and Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
Since our Catholic faith is deeply woven into the Italian-American experience and remains one of the strongest bonds connecting our community from generation to generation, this visit gave Italian-American leaders an extraordinary opportunity to ensure that our relationship with the Vatican would continue to grow with purpose.
Discussions during our visit centered on preserving Catholic traditions, engaging younger generations, and expanding cooperation between Italian-American institutions and the Holy See.
Millions of Italian Americans are Catholic, and that spiritual inheritance remains visible in communities throughout the United States.
Each year, Italian-American religious feasts honoring patron saints draw millions of people to churches, processions and neighborhoods nationwide. Many of these century-old traditions are organized and preserved by COPOMIAO member organizations that help carry the community’s faith and heritage forward.
Our growing relationship with the Vatican has allowed COPOMIAO member organizations to bring an essential spiritual dimension to our shared missions of preserving and promoting our history, traditions and values.
The audiences with Pope Leo XIV and Cardinal Parolin marked another defining chapter in that mission, one rooted in a commitment of preserving the spiritual inheritance of generations past and those yet to come.
Our delegation next began a series of talks with prominent Italian government officials to strengthen the bond between Italian Americans and our ancestral homeland, to advocate for greater access to Italian dual citizenship, and to explore opportunities for younger generations of Italian leaders to participate in COPOMIAO’s Italian American Future Leaders program (IAFuture.org).
We first met with Lorenzo Fontana, president of Italy’s Chamber of Deputies (a role comparable to the speaker of the House of Representatives).
Fontana spoke candidly about the contributions of Italian Americans to the U.S. and the community’s continued cultural importance. He also expressed enthusiasm for keeping descendants of Italian immigrants connected to Italy. I then explained to him that we felt that one of the most successful ways of accomplishing that would be for the Italian government to ease the restrictions it has placed on obtaining dual citizenship. Overall, this discussion went very well.
We next traveled to the Italian Senate, where we met with Sen. Mariastella Gelmini, who chairs the Italy-U.S. parliamentary friendship group, and Christian Di Sanzo, a Chamber of Deputies member representing Italian citizens in America. During our discussions, both expressed their support for easing the restrictions on citizenship by descent.
Our delegation was also invited to Italy’s Foreign Ministry to speak with Silvia Limoncini, director general for Services to Citizens Abroad. Again, I was able to raise the issue of loosening dual-citizenship requirements and making visas easier to obtain.
Our final stop was the American Embassy, where we had in-depth discussions with Ambassador Tilman Fertitta about broader U.S.-Italy relations, including energy, trade and ongoing cooperation between the nation’s leaders.
This special trip built upon COPOMIAO’s landmark visit to Rome and Vatican City in 2022. That summit advanced our cultural and religious initiatives while laying the foundation for stronger institutional ties between the United States, Italy and the Vatican.
Basil M. Russo is president of the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations (COPOMIAO.org) and national president of the Italian Sons and Daughters of America (OrderISDA.org).
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The above article appears in the December 2026 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture.
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