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.