Italy
Italy is a secular republic with a national identity rooted firmly in Roman Catholicism. Throughout its history, the Catholic Church has been based in Rome, with most popes being Italian, and has played a primary role in shaping Italian social and political developments over the last 1,600 years. The unification and independence of Italy was achieved over the second half of the 19th century against the wishes of the Vatican. Catholicism was disestablished as the state religion in 1984 but remains a hallmark of Italian society, and the Church is influential in most political parties. While the constitution guarantees religious freedom, the Church receives nearly all the taxes collected under a law in which taxpayers choose what organization will receive 0.8% of their annual income. However, Italian society and government do not always abide by Catholic teachings: divorce and abortion have been legalized in recent decades.
ESSAYS ON ITALY
From the Roman Empire to the Renaissance
As the capital of the Roman Empire, Rome hosted many of the great figures of early Christianity. In Catholic tradition, the apostle Peter established the Catholic Church as the first Bishop of Rome. After centuries of persecution, Emperor Constantine (306-337 CE) officially legalized Christianity with the Edict of Milan in 313. With the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in 476, Christian religious bodies became one of the few surviving governing institutions in Italy. In 756, the Frankish King Pepin (751-68) secured for the pope control over much of central Italy, establishing the Papal States. His son, Charlemagne (768-814), was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III in 800, but ambiguity over the relative power of Pope and Emperor led to a centuries-long struggle for control of Italy. During this time, northern Italy remained divided into a number of warring city-states, while southern Italy was successively conquered by Eastern Rite Byzantines, Muslim Arabs, and Catholic Normans, each of whom spread their respective faiths in the region. Between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, the Italian city-states became the center of the Renaissance, which gradually spread throughout Europe, providing the philosophical underpinnings of the future Protestant Reformation. At the same time, Italy became the battleground of a power struggle between France and Spain in the Great Italian Wars (1494-1559). The Habsburg monarchs of Spain eventually secured control over much of its territory, and their dynasty maintained power over Italy through its Austrian branch until 1796, when Napoleon’s France took control.
The Risorgimento and the World Wars
Italy remained divided and under foreign occupation until the nineteenth century, when the popular nationalism triggered by the French Revolution led to a rejection of foreign rule and conflict with the Vatican in a period that came to be known as the Risorgimento. The 1815 Congress of Vienna restored control over much of the Italian peninsula to Habsburg Austria. However, the next decades witnessed a series of attempted insurrections and revolutions that, in addition to resistance to Austrian rule, espoused anti-clericalism and the separation of church and state, eventually leading to the unification of Italy under King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia in 1861. When the Italian army finally seized Rome in 1871, Pope Pius IX refused to accept the authority of the secular Italian state and declared himself a prisoner in the Vatican. The status of the Vatican and the Pope’s temporal authority, known as the Roman Question, remained unresolved for almost 60 years. After the First World War (1914-1918), Italy experienced growing political radicalism, culminating in the establishment of Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime in 1922. Relations with the Catholic Church improved during this period, leading to the Lateran Accords in 1929, which resolved the Roman Question by making Vatican City an independent state and establishing Catholicism as the official religion of Italy, a position it maintained despite the defeat of Fascist Italy in the Second World War (1939-1945) and the establishment of the Italian Republic in 1946.
Recent Developments
The post-war era witnessed both economic growth and political instability in Italy, as various Christian Democratic-led governments rose and fell in rapid succession and radical right- and left-wing organizations engaged in acts of violence. In 1984, Italy and the Holy See revised the Lateran Pact, bringing to an end Catholicism’s status as an official religion while preserving for it an important role in society, particularly with regard to education. Although political violence diminished after the late 1980s, corruption has remained endemic in spite of various attempts at reform and a historic corruption investigation that led to the near-collapse of Italy’s political parties in 1992, with a particularly devastating effect on the Christian Democrats. Growing secularism has significantly reduced Catholic Church membership during the last few decades, although it remains by far the largest religious denomination. Over 80 percent of Italians identify as Catholic, though only around a third of the population is active in the Church. Immigration and Protestant evangelism have led to a modest increase in religious diversity, though Italy’s close historical relationship with the Roman Catholic Church has led to a perceived tacit hostility toward non-Catholics, and especially non-Christians. Although there have been incidents of anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim behavior, religious conflict has not been prominent in Italy’s recent history. A 2005 antiterrorism decree increased the penalty for the wearing of anything, including burqas, that hides one’s identity. Crucifixes continue to be displayed in public buildings, and court cases have determined that they are symbols of civic values and Italian culture.
Contemporary Affairs
The contemporary politics of religion in Italy centers on issues of Muslim immigration and the influence of the Catholic Church. Far-right parties have channeled fears about growing Muslim populations and repeatedly advocated laws, such as minaret bans, which make the practice of Islam more difficult in the country. Attempts to build mosques in some Italian cities have met with resistance from local inhabitants and political leaders, as well as incidents of vandalism and arson. In contrast, despite its rocky history, the current relationship between the Catholic Church and the Italian state is often friendly. In November 2009, the European Court of Human Rights issued a ruling that banned crucifixes from Italian classrooms on the argument that it infringed upon the rights of non-Christians. Italy, with the support of Catholic authorities and activists, appealed the ruling by arguing that the crosses were symbols of tradition, and it was successfully overturned in March 2011. Other interactions have been more complicated. In 2009, then-Prime Minister Berlusconi, leader of the coalition of conservative parties, sided with the Vatican in the contentious case of Eluana Englaro, a woman in a 17-year coma whose case tested the limits of Italy’s end-of-life policies. This led to objections against Berlusconi’s position by other political authorities, including Italy’s President and much of the judiciary. In 2012, amidst a severe economic and fiscal crisis, the Italian government revoked the tax exemption for Catholic buildings other than those used directly for purposes of worship.
Religious Freedom in Italy
The Italian constitution guarantees freedom of belief and worship, and the government maintains a complex system of negotiated accords, or legal agreements, with various religious communities. The state has been firmly secular since 1984 but provides support for religious communities on the basis of these accords. The absence of an accord does not impinge upon the rights of individual believers but makes it impossible for them to receive many of the positive benefits available to other communities. As of 2009, Italy had established accords with thirteen religious groups, including Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Jews, Baptists, Lutherans, Buddhists, Hindus, and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Muslims are the largest group without an accord, largely due to the lack of unified organizational representation of their community. The absence of such an accord, attempts to pass laws restricting the religious practices of Muslims, and local conflicts regarding the construction of specific mosques have collectively raised concerns about the future status of religious freedom for members of this community. Separation of church and state was recently tested by a European Court of Human Rights ruling that ordered the removal of crucifixes from Italian classrooms, arguing that such displays were prejudicial toward non-Christians; Italy successfully appealed this ruling, which was overturned in March 2011.
Religion in the Italian Constitution
Religious freedom is a fundamental aspect of the Italian Constitution. Article 3 states that all citizens have equal status before the law regardless of their religious affiliation. Article 8 stipulates that all religious denominations have equal status before the law, and that they are entitled to organize, govern themselves, and to enter into agreements with the government in order to receive the benefits that come with official government recognition, such as receiving a portion of the taxes collected under a law in which taxpayers choose what religious organization will receive 0.8% of their annual income. The Constitution also bans the imposition of additional burdens or limitations on religious associations due to their confessional character. Additionally, Article 19 guarantees the freedom to profess and promote any religious belief and form of worship. Article 7 recognizes the independence and sovereignty of the Roman Catholic Church, and delineates that the country's Church-State relationship is regulated by the Lateran pacts.
Article 3: Equality
(1) All citizens have equal social status and are equal before the law, without regard to their sex, race, language, religion, political opinions, and personal or social conditions.
(2) It is the duty of the republic to remove all economic and social obstacles that, by limiting the freedom and equality of citizens, prevent full individual development and the participation of all workers in the political, economic, and social organization of the country.
Article 7: Relation between State and Church
(1) State and catholic church are, each within their own reign, independent and sovereign.
(2) Their relationship is regulated by the lateran pacts. Amendments to these pacts which are accepted by both parties do not require the procedure of constitutional amendments.
Article 8: Religion
(1) Religious denominations are equally free before the law.
(2) Denominations other than Catholicism have the right to organize themselves according to their own by-laws, provided they do not conflict with the Italian legal system.
(3) Their relationship with the state is regulated by law, based on agreements with their representatives.
Article 19: Freedom of Religion
Everyone is entitled to freely profess religious beliefs in any form, individually or with others, to promote them, and to celebrate rites in public or in private, provided they are not offensive to public morality.
Article 20: Religious Associations
For associations or institutions, their religious character or religious or confessional aims do not justify special limitations or fiscal burdens regarding their establishment, legal capacity, or activities.
