Berkley Center

In director Frederico Fellini’s renowned masterpiece, La Dolce Vita, the film begins with the statue of Christ flying over the city of Rome. As the protagonist Marcello rides in the helicopter carrying the divine figure, the sight of three women sunbathing on rooftop quickly distracts him. Through these first few minutes of the film, Fellini introduces the audience to the Catholic Church’s strong presence in the Italian culture. Yet, by simultaneously portraying Marcello’s easy distraction, the director presents a growing trend among the Italian citizenry towards a decline in religious faith and spirituality.

The opening scene of La Dolce Vita depicts a noticeable shift in religious identity and beliefs that began in Italy during the 1950s. At this time, Italy underwent an “economic miracle,” in which industry boomed, the standard of living increased, and social mobility was on the rise. As wealth prospered, the economic hardships of the years immediately following World War II became distant memories. Although the growing prosperity meant well for Italy’s economy, it also introduced a new challenge to the country. With the increase in the flow of money, there was a simultaneous decline in the religious sentiment of its citizenry as people replaced spiritual fulfillment to material.

Italy has long had a reputation as one of the world’s most devout religious countries. In 2005, Cardinal Camillo Ruini stated, "In Italy we find ourselves in a privileged situation, in comparison with much of Europe, because the Christian faith in its Catholic form is alive and rooted in the people here." Over the decades, the nation proudly touted the statistics that said that approximately 30 percent of its Catholics attended weekly church services.

However, two recent studies revealed that though Italy might appear to be superior to other European nations in religious vitality, the reality is less positive. In a 2005 study from Venice, 26.5 percent of survey respondents said they attended church weekly, but actual attendance figures revealed attendance of only 15 percent. Two years later, similar findings were found in study conducted by the diocese of Pizza Armerina in Sicily. Whereas 30 percent claimed weekly attendance, the survey showed that only 18.5 percent actually went to church. Though the nation has long touted its high rate of regular Mass attendance, these studies reveal a citizenry less faithful than commonly perceived.

The decline in faith and spirituality in Italy was an issue I knew little about before my semester abroad in the nation. As I looked ahead to my four months in Florence, I anxiously waited for the opportunity when I would be able to attend a Catholic Mass in the global birthplace of the Roman Catholic Church.

During my first weekend in Italy, however, my stereotypical ideas about devout Catholic Italians immediately came into question. I anticipated that my host family would be more than willing to allow me to accompany them to Mass, but there was no movement Sunday morning for church. Even more to my surprise, when I attended Mass on my own, I was one of the few parishioners of the younger generation.

In speaking with many Italian students in Florence, I learned that religious affiliation has little value to their identity. To them, sites like the Duomo in Florence’s center are less religious places of worship and more like social gathering spots. My host mother's grandson, only 19n years old, adamantly declared that he did not see the value in worshiping God. To summarize his religious beliefs, he showed me an online icon that said God equals the square root of negative one. Since there is no value for the square root of a negative number, he essentially told me that God was nonexistent. He and many of his peers are just like Marcello in La Dolce Vita: more interested in the material world and physical relationships than spirituality and divinity.

Despite the fact there is a church on nearly street corner, the growing emptiness in the pews has created great anxiety within the Vatican, particularly in regards to the decline in the youth’s religious practice. As more and more young people choose to turn away from religion, Italy could become less of a nation of Catholicism and more of a place of secularization. The challenge for the Church today will be to convince followers one does not need to see Christ flying overhead to have believe, but rather all one needs is faith to know that His presence is everywhere.