Methodist Episcopal Church, South and South and was criticized for holding slaves. The 1844 General Conference voted to suspend Bishop Andrew from exercising his episcopal office until he gave up the slaves. Southern delegates to the conference disputed the authority of a General Conference to discipline bishops. The cultural differences that had divided the nation during the mid-19th century were also dividing the Methodist Episcopal Church. The 1844 dispute led Methodists in the South to break off and form a separate denomination, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MEC,S). The statistics for 1859 showed the MEC,S had as enrolled members some 511,601 whites and 197,000
Episcopal Conference of Italy Episcopal Conference of Italy The Italian Episcopal Conference () is the episcopal conference of the Italian bishops of the Catholic 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