Leonardo De Chirico (1967) planted and pastored an Evangelical church in Ferrara (northern Italy) from 1997 to 2009. Since 2009 he has been involved in a church planting project in Rome and is now pastor of the church Breccia di Roma (www.brecciadiroma.it). He earned degrees in History (University of Bologna), Theology (ETCW, Bridgend, Wales) and Bioethics (University of Padova). His PhD is from King’s College (London) and it was published as Evangelical Theological Perspectives on Post-Vatican II Roman Catholicism (Bern-Oxford: Peter Lang 2003).
He is Adjunct Director of Istituto di Formazione Evangelica e Documentazione (www.ifeditalia.org), editor of its theological journal Studi di teologia, and director of the Center for Ethics and Bioethics (CSEB). He was also vice-chairman of the Italian Evangelical Alliance (www.alleanzaevangelica.org) from 2003-2021, taking part at the dialogue between the World Evangelical Alliance and the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity. He now serves as chairman for the theological commission of the Italian Evangelical Alliance. Together with Pietro Bolognesi and Andrea Ferrari he was general editor of the Dizionario di teologia evangelica (2007). Additionally, Leonardo is the Director of the Reformanda Initiative (www.reformandainitiative.org), which aims to equip evangelical leaders to better understand and engage with Roman Catholicism, and the leader of the Rome Scholars & Leaders Network (RSLN). He is married to Valeria and they have two grown sons, Filippo and Akille.
Main Publications
1. Books
Giubileo speranza del terzo millennio (Roma: Italia per Cristo, 1999).
Il movimento evangelicale (con Pietro Bolognesi) (Brescia: Queriniana, 2002).
Evangelical Theological Perspectives on post-Vatican II Roman Catholicism (Bern-Oxford: Peter Lang, 2003)
editor: Pietro Bolognesi, Il popolo dei discepoli. Contributi per un’ecclesiologia evangelica (Caltanissetta: Alfa & Omega, 2002).
editor (together with Pietro Bolognesi and Andrea Ferrari), Dizionario di teologia evangelica (Marchirolo: EUN, 2007; reprint 2014).
editor (together with Daniel Walker): Giovanni Calvino – Renata di Francia, Lealtà in tensione. Un carteggio protestante tra Ferrara e l’Europa (1537-1564) (Caltanissetta: Alfa & Omega, 2009).
A Christian’s Pocket Guide to Papacy. Its Origin and Role in the 21st Century (Fearn: Christian Focus, 2015). See: http://www.christianfocus.com/item/show/1617/- Italian edition: Il papato. Una guida evangelica, Firenze, BE Edizioni 2015.
Quale unità cristiana? L’ecumenismo in discussione (Caltanissetta: Alfa & Omega 2016).
A Christian Pocket Guide to Mary, Christian Focus 2017; tr.it. Maria. Una guida evangelica, BE 2017; tr. sp.: Hablemos de María ¿Madre de Dios?, Ciudad Real, Editorial Peregrino 2019.
2. Selected Articles
“L’evangelismo tra crisi della modernità e sfida della postmodernità”, Studi di teologia NS 17 (1997/1) 3-52.
“The Cross and the Eucharist: the Doctrine of the Atonement According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church”, European Journal of Theology VIII (1999/1) 49-59.
“The Biblical Jubilee”, Evangelical Review of Theology, 23/4 (1999) 347-362.
“Il campo religioso: tra tolleranza ed intolleranza”, Studi di teologia NS 25 (2001/1) 63-76.
“Evangelicals and the Roman Catholic Church since Vatican II”, European Journal of Theology X (2001/1) 25-35.
“Interpretazioni religiose della Rivoluzione francese”, Studi di teologia NS 26 (2001/2) 158-167.
“Warfield e la teologia evangelica nel XX secolo” in AaVv, B.B. Warfield, Una figura di “cerniera” tra protestantesimo classico e teologia evangelicale, Caltanissetta, Alfa & Omega 2001, 32-48.
“Teologia evangelica e cultura postmoderna”, Studi di teologia NS 27 (2002/1) 78-92.
“Le prospettive della complementarietà secondo la Dichiarazione di Danvers (1987)”, Studi di teologia NS 28 (2002/2) 179-185.
“La libertà della volontà nel pensiero di Edwards”, Studi di teologia NS 29 (2003/1) 25-37.
“The Blurring of Time Distinctions in Roman Catholicism”, Themelios 29:2 (2004) 40-46.
“Das Katholische Einheitsverständnis und die Evangelische Alternative”, Bibel und Gemeinde (2004/3) 23-31.
“Una Bibbia, due Testamenti, molte ermeneutiche: e l’autorità della Scrittura? Una prospettiva evangelical”, Protestantesimo 59 (2004) 147-154.
“The Fragile Vision. Trends in 20th Century Evangelical Thought”, European Journal of Theology XIII.2 (2004) pp. 110-112.
“Four questions for Evangelical bioethics”, Foundations 53 (Spring 2005) 8-11.
“La pratica dell’uno e del molteplice: l’etica delle prospettive”, Studi di teologia NS 34 (2005/2) 156-165.
“The dignity of the human person: towards an Evangelical reading of the theology of personhood of Vatican II”, Evangelical Quarterly LXXVII (2005/3) 249-259.
“Des relations entre évangéliques et catholiques”, idéa (Juin 2006/5) 5-7.
“La possibilità dell’etica evangelica. Risurrezione ed etica nella prospettiva riformata di Oliver O’Donovan”, Parola e Tempo (2006/5) pp. 90-96.
“Roman Catholicism and the Evangelical Alternative”, Foundations 57 (Spring 2007) 16-21.
“La doctrine sociale de l’Église catholique romaine”, Théologie Évangélique 6/1 (2007) 51-66.
“Evangélicos y Católicos: comparten un futuro común? El desafío del catolicismo romano para la fe evangélica”, II Jornadas de teología José Grau, Barcelona, Centro Evangélico de Estudios Bíblicos 2008, pp. 40.
“Progressive, Conservative or Roman Catholic? On the Theology of Joseph Ratzinger in Evangelical Perspective”, Perichoresis 6.2 (2008) 201-218.
“L’Europa di Ratzinger”, Studi di teologia NS 40 (2008/2) 182-185.
“Il Trattato sulle reliquie di Giovanni Calvino” in P. Bolognesi e A. Olivieri, Calvino ieri e oggi in Italia, Roma, Aracne 2010, pp. 113-120.
“Chiese presbiteriane” in A. Melloni (a cura di), Dizionario del sapere storico-religioso del Novecento, Bologna, il Mulino 2010, pp. 535-539.
“La Bibbia per l’etica: quale relazione?”, Studi di teologia NS 47 (2012/1) pp. 45-61.
“Scrittura. Stili di etica” in Segretariato Attività Ecumeniche (a cura di), Camminare in novità di vita. In dialogo sull’etica, Milano, Paoline 2012, pp. 171-182.
“Same Word, Different Worlds: the Roman Catholic Doctrine of Regeneration”, Credo Magazine (July 2013) pp. 64-71.
“Il Vaticano II, banco di prova della teologia evangelica”, Studi di teologia NS 50 (2013/2) pp. 99-125.
“La giustificazione come questione ecumenica irrisolta”, Studi di teologia NS 53 (2015/1) pp. 99-118.
“Salvation Belongs to the Lord: Evangelical Consensus in Dialogue with Roman Catholicism”, Evangelical Review of Theology 39:4 (2015) pp. 292-310.
“Post-Christian Confession in Secular Context”, Unio con Christo vol. 1, No. 1-2 (2015) pp. 173-186.