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Centro Argentino de Estudios Internacionales / Entelequia. Revista Interdisciplinar
Italy
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respects
this right in practice.
There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom during the period
covered by this report, and government policy continued to contribute to the generally
free practice of religion. There is no state religion; however, the RomanCatholic Church
enjoys some privileges, stemming from its sovereign status and its historical political
authority, not available to other faiths.
The generally amicable relationship among religions in society contributed to religious
freedom. The Catholic Church's influential role in society has led to controversy when
church teachings have appeared to influence Catholic legislators on matters of public
policy. Increasing immigration has led to some anti-immigrant sentiment; for the
country's many Muslim immigrants, religion has served as an additional factor
differentiating them from native-born citizens.
Section I. Religious Demography
The country has an area of 116,347 square miles, and its population is approximately
57.8 million. An estimated 87 percent of native-born citizens are nominally Roman
Catholic, but only 20 percent regularly participate in worship services. According to
numbers reported by the communities, members of Jehovah's Witnesses form the second
largest Christian denomination among native-born citizens, numbering approximately
231,000 adherents, followed by members of the Assembly of God (78,000), Methodists
and Waldesians (27,000), and Mormons (22,000).
However, immigration--both legal and illegal--continues to add large groups of non-
Christian residents, mainly Muslims, from North Africa, South Asia, Albania, and the
Middle East. Of 2.9 million legal immigrants, an estimated 1 million are Muslim, primarily
Sunnis. There are approximately 75,000 Hindus. Buddhists include approximately 40,000
adherents of European origin and 20,000 of Asian origin. A Jewish community of
approximately 30,000 maintains synagogues in 21 cities. Other significant religious
communities include Orthodox churches, small Protestant groups, the Baha'i Faith, and
South Asian Hindus. Polls conducted in 2003 showed that approximately 14 percent of
the population consider themselves to be either atheists or agnostics.
Section II. Status of Religious Freedom
Legal/Policy Framework
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respects
this right in practice. The Government at all levels strives to protect this right in full and
does not tolerate its abuse, either by governmental or private actors.
Prior to the Constitution's adoption in 1947, the country's relations with the Catholic
Church were governed by a 1929 Concordat, which resolved longstanding disputes
stemming from the dissolution of the Papal States and established Catholicism as the
country's state religion. A 1984 revision of the Concordat formalized the principle of a
secular state but maintained the practice of state support for religion--support that also
Arno Tausch, Christian Bischof, Tomz Kastrun, Karl Mueller 309