History of Catholicism in Italy
Christianity emerged in Rome about ten years after the crucifixion of Christ on Golgotha in Jerusalem. The early Christians were persecuted by the Romans, but Christianity eventually became the official religion of the Roman Empire. In the Middle Ages, the Pope, the spiritual leader of all Catholics, ruled over an influential state and Rome became the centre of the Christian world. Today, Catholicism is no longer a state religion and the Italian constitution guarantees freedom of religion. The Italian Church is headed by a cardinal and the Italian Episcopal Council, and is an offshoot of the entire Catholic world. The Italian Church and the Vatican have had no other relationship since 1870, when the popes relinquished their political power. In 1929, the Lateran Accords recognized Vatican City as an independent and sovereign state within Rome. The political influence of the Church has been declining since the 1960s. For a long time, Catholicism was the state religion, and it was not until 1984 that a concordat put a definitive end to its pre-eminent position.
Catholicism, a traditional value
Italy has countless churches, saints and sanctuaries of the Christian world on its territory, and the Christian religion is an integral part of its history and heritage, even more so than in France. Added to this is the presence of the Vatican within the country itself. The Pope is at its head and he is responsible for nearly 850 million Catholics in the world. This influence is necessarily very strong in the country. Catholicism is extremely present and practiced in the Italian Alps and the Dolomites, as in the rest of the country. Italians are very religious and go to church regularly. As in France, the three main religious holidays are Easter, August 15 (Ferragosto) and Christmas. Throughout the year, there are processions of patron saints of villages and districts in the cities. While more and more Italians are adopting northern European customs for Christmas celebrations, such as Christmas trees and gift exchanges, there is still a strong tradition in Italy of building elaborate nativity scenes(presepi).
A religion losing influence
The political influence of the Church in Italy has diminished so that today there are only 32,000 priests in Italy, compared to 84,000 in 1901. In the 1950s, the proportion of practising Catholics was 60%, whereas today it is only 30% of the Italian population. Religious instruction is now optional in public schools. Although 96% of the Italian population is baptised, almost 72% say they are believing Christians, and only 25% are practising, i.e. they go to Mass regularly. Even fewer follow the Pope, who has gradually lost his historical hold despite the presence of the Vatican in Rome, with a very rigid doctrine for young people who have more modern morals and less pious morals. Since the 1990s, however, the trend is no longer downward, and more and more Italians are attending mass, a testimony to a revaluation of religion in the lives of Italians and a return to traditional values on the part of a marginal fringe of the population.
Other minority religions
Alongside the 72% of Catholics, there are also Orthodox Christians (2.1%) and Protestants (1.1%) from central Europe (Romania, Russia, former Yugoslavia and Bulgaria). Republican values having made their way since the hegemony of the all-powerful Church, atheists now represent 22% of the population, or nearly 13 million people. Not without humour, they call themselves members of the "Italian Pastafarian Church", with a colander as their sacred headdress, and "condiments" instead of "commandments". In Italy, non-Christian religions represent only 3.5% of the population. This percentage is very low compared to all European countries. The Muslim community (3.3%), whose representatives come from Central Europe and the Maghreb, is very recent in Italy, a nation which, like Spain, remained an exporter of labour to northern Europe and the United States until the 1970s. There are a few Buddhists (0.5%), Hindus (0.3%) and a few members of the Jewish community (0.1%), traditionally present in northern Italy.
