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16 hours ago
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Rome, Italy, Sep 24, 2025 / 13:02 pm
The Italian Parliament this week took a major step toward making the Oct. 4 feast of St. Francis of Assisi a national holiday.
The Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Italy’s Parliament, voted to pass the bill on Sept. 23, with 247 votes in favor of the proposal and two against. Eight people abstained.
The bill is highly expected to pass into law but must first be put to vote in the other house of Italy’s Parliament, the Senate. No date has been set for the Senate vote on the bipartisan initiative introduced by the center-right party “Noi Moderati” (“Us Moderates”).
St. Francis is considered Italy’s patron saint, and his feast was celebrated as a national holiday by the country until 1977. The year 2026 will be a significant year of celebration as it will mark the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis in 1226.
The president of the Chamber of Deputies, Lorenzo Fontana, said: “I am delighted that the chamber has given the initial green light to this proposal: Rediscovering St. Francis also means reviving his message of peace, which is more relevant than ever.”
Italy currently has 12 national work holidays on the calendar, of which eight are solely based on religious feast days, including: Epiphany on Jan. 6, Easter Monday, the Assumption of Mary on Aug. 15, All Saints Day on Nov. 1, the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8, Christmas Day on Dec. 25, and the feast of St. Stephen the Martyr on Dec. 26.
The eighth religious-based holiday differs city to city as it is the patronal feast of the place. The solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul on June 29 is a holiday in Rome because they are the city’s patron saints.
The other four national holidays are Jan. 1, New Year’s Day (also the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God); April 25, the celebration of the liberation of Italy from Nazi-fascism in 1945; May 1, Labor Day (also the feast of St. Joseph the Worker); and June 2, the holiday marking the birth of the Italian republic in 1946.
Hannah Brockhaus is Catholic News Agency’s senior Vatican correspondent. After growing up in Omaha, Nebraska, she earned a degree in English from Truman State University in Missouri. In 2016, she moved to Rome, Italy, where in her spare time she enjoys reading and going on adventures with her husband and son.
