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COUNTRY

Italy

POPULATION

61,261,254 (July 2012 est.)

GDP PER CAPITA

$30,900 (2011 est.)

RELIGIONS

Christian 80% (overwhelming Roman Catholic with very small groups of Jehova Witnesses and Protestants), Muslims NEGL (about 700,000 but growing), Atheists and Agnostics 20%


Italy

Italy

Letters (12)

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.

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  • Louis DiPaola on Conservative Innovation within the Catholic Church

    July 13, 2011
    The vivacity of Rome reaches its absolute fullest during Holy Week. The streets bustle with pilgrims jaunting from church to church captivated with the sanctity of the seat of the Roman Catholic Church. These pilgrims converge from every corner of the world in order to take part in the ceremonies for the most important week of the Catholic liturgical calendar. Holy Week serves not only as one of the greatest opportunities to witness the congregation of the world’s Catholic faithful but also...
  • Sammy Magnuson on Political Corruption in Italy

    April 18, 2011
    By taking a US History course at l’Universitá degli Studi di Firenze, my abroad experience’s study of contrasts is extended directly into the classroom. Our last day of class covered the dense stretch of US history from the 1960s through today. In a broad survey course such as this one, the professor is consigned to select only the most important events and topics to explain, so I generally feel I know what to expect. The 1960s and 70s should mean a series of movements and a sense of social...
  • Bethany Imondi on Italy's Identity Crisis

    April 12, 2011
    When one thinks of March 17th, one’s mind probably thinks of green, shamrocks, and corn beef and cabbage. While Italy does not revel in the festivities associated with the observance of St. Patrick’s Day, the date has its own significance to the peninsula: on March 17th 1861, Italy became a unified country.

    Considering the peninsula’s rich history with the Holy Roman Empire, the Renaissance, and the Roman Catholic Church, one might be surprised when learning that Italy only marked its 150th...
  • Tiare Dunlap on the Crucifix and Catholicism in Italy

    April 7, 2011
    This past month the European Court of Human Rights overturned a ban of crucifixes in Italian public school classrooms, which was implemented in 2009 after a lawsuit brought by a Finnish-Italian mother wishing to raise secular children. The Court found that while the crucifix was above all a religious symbol, there was no evidence its presence on a classroom wall might have an influence on students. Although this issue offers much to be discussed in terms of the role of the EU in its member...
  • Louis DiPaola on a Modern Rome

    March 28, 2011
    What does it mean to be a Roman? No, not the toga-wearing gladiator-watching people that controlled the Mediterranean 2000 years ago but a resident of this vibrant capital of the modern Italian state. Spending the past couple of months in the city of Rome has provided me with a glimpse into the lives of these colorful storied people.

    Romans grow up completely immersed in the footprints of their past. The 500 square miles that comprise the modern city of Rome are home to more than 900...
  • Sammy Magnuson on the Spectacular Empty Churches of Italy

    March 20, 2011
    Churches are museums in Italy. For the 15-20% of Italians that actually attend mass regularly, they participate in the presentation of something that signified more in the past than it does now. I visited one of these sacred spaces the other day, the Basilica di Santissima Maria Annunziata, and I was shocked to discover that, between the tourists taking photos and ogling the stunning artwork, people were going to confession and a priest was conducting the Beatitudes.

    The churches in Italy...
  • Tiare Dunlap on the Italian Family Structure

    March 1, 2011
    In my first Italian class, I read in our text book that it is quite common for people to live at home well into their twenties. Given my level of comprehension I assumed I must have been misreading. However, as I looked up each word, in as simple language as it had been stated, I realized this was the truth. Viewing this concept through the lens of my own culture I was honestly a bit horrified. In my hometown twenty-five year-olds living with their parents are viewed as needing some sort of...
  • Colin Steele on Reflections from a Semester Abroad

    January 17, 2011
    Thoughts, reflections, and observations on the end of one semester, the beginning of another, and a move across a continent:

    I have just completed a journey across Europe from the McGhee Center in Alanya, Turkey to the National University of Ireland, Galway. That's two time zones, an entire continent, and more miles than I can count. In so doing, I've exchanged my Mediterranean view for one of the Atlantic, sandy beaches for rocky cliffsides, minarets for steeples, and five calls to prayer...
  • RJ Barthelmes on Roman and Celtic Christianity

    January 12, 2011
    The past 4 months have granted me the opportunity to engage with numerous cultures all over Europe and the Mediterranean world. Travels ranging from Dublin in Ireland to the Northern Sahara Desert in Tunisia have provided an unprecedented opportunity to engage with the gamut of the Christian, or what once was the ancient Christian, world. From the 4th century onward, Christianity was the king religion throughout the known civilized western world. Covering an area stretching from the northern...
  • Beth DiSciullo on the Culture of an Italian Meal

    December 1, 2010
    Tre squadre, Imperatrice instructed, as she handed small pieces of paper to the students standing closest to her and watched as the three teams moved into place. E dobbiamo avere fretto perche dopo facciamo spese, mangiamo.

    We must hurry, because after we shop, we eat.

    I was standing in the grocery store with my basic Italian classmates and teacher, preparing to buy the ingredients we needed to prepare our dinner. Imperatrice, our instructor, had written out the shopping lists from which we...
  • Beth DiSciullo on Symbolism and Identity in Italy

    October 18, 2010
    Upon reading Caitlin DeLaurentis October 14th letter, I was struck by how similar her experience in Ireland regarding Catholicism has been to mine in Italy. Like Caitlin, I entered my semester abroad expecting to perceive a prevailing sense of religious identity within Florence and its people. Although I have certainly found that the citys art and architecture glorify the countrys Catholic history, the majority of Italians with whom I have spoken say that faith does not play a significant...
  • RJ Barthelmes on the “Constant”inian Secular and Religious Divide

    October 1, 2010
    The world of Christianity erroneously heralds the Edict of Milan as the beginning of the greater Christian movement within the Roman Empire here in modern day Italy. As any Late Antiquity scholar will enlighten, the 313 AD decree by the converted, yet un-baptized, Emperor Constantine was an Edict of Tolerance, not of empire-wide call to conversion to Christianity.

    It would be absurd to think that Constantine, a wary and cunning emperor, given his killing of Maxentius on October 28th, 312 at...