Faith In Italian
Leah Soechting
Regarding Italian citizens in Italy, according to the 2005 Eurobarometer poll (conducted on behalf of the European Commission), 74% of Italians "believe[d] there is a God", 16% "believe[d] there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 6% "[did] not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force".[11] According to a 2006 survey by Eurispes (an Italian research centre), Catholics made up 87.8% of Italian citizens, with 36.8% describing themselves as observants.[12] According to the same poll in 2010, those percentages fell to 76.5% and 24.4%, respectively.[13] In 2016 Eurispes found that 71.1% of Italians were Catholic, 5 points down from 2010, but their religious practice was on the rise at 25.4%.[14] According to Doxa (another Italian research centre) in 2014, 75% of Italians were Catholic.[15] The 2018 Eurobarometer survey showed that 85.6% of Italy's population was Christian (78.9% Catholics, 4.6% Orthodox Christians, 0.6% Protestants, 1.5% other Christians), while 2.6% belonged to other religions and 11.7% were non-religious (7.5% atheists, 4.2% agnostics).[16] The 2021 Eurobarometer estimated that 84.4% was Christian (with 79.2% of the population being Catholic), 11.6% was agnostic or atheist and 3.2% followed another religion.[17]
The Italian territory is divided into 225 Catholic dioceses (whose bishops have been organised, since 1952, in the politically influential[20][21] Episcopal Conference of Italy, CEI),[22][23] currently led by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi. According to Church statistics (which do not consider current active members), 57,665,000 Italians, that is 96.6% of the country's population, was baptised as Catholic.[24]
Ecclesial life is somewhat vibrant and, despite secularization, some of the most active movements and associations are Catholic, including organisations as diverse as Catholic Action (AC), the Italian Catholic Association of Guides and Scouts (AGESCI), Communion and Liberation (CL), Neocatechumenal Way, the Focolare Movement, the Christian Associations of Italian Workers (ACLI), the Community of Sant'Egidio, etc., most of which have been involved in social activities and have frequently supplied Italian politics with their members.[25][26][27][28] Italy's current President, Sergio Mattarella,[29][30][31] and former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi[32][33] have been AC and AGESCI leaders, respectively, while a former President of the CEI, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco,[34][35] was long an AGESCI assistant.
Other than that the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, Italy has two additional significant Christian bodies that are native to the peninsula: the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church, one of the twenty-three Eastern Catholic Churches in communion with the Pope, and the Waldensian Evangelical Church, a Christian movement originated from Lyon in the late 12th century and adopted Calvinist theology shortly after the start of the Reformation (see also Waldensians). The two churches include the majority of the population in Piana degli Albanesi, Sicily and Lungro, Calabria, and the so-called "Waldensian Valleys" (Val Pellice, Val Chisone and Valle Germanasca) of western Piedmont, respectively.
Most historical mainline Protestants, including the Waldensians (30,000 members), the Baptists (Baptist Evangelical Christian Union of Italy, 15,000), the mostly German-speaking Lutherans (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Italy, 7,000), the Methodists (Methodist Evangelical Church in Italy, 5,000) and minor Calvinist and Presbyterian communities, are affiliated to the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy, along with the Italian section of The Salvation Army (2,000) and some minor Evangelical and Pentecostal denominations.[36] In the Protestant context, it is also worth mentioning the Evangelical Christian Church of the Brethren (19,000) and the Italian section of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (18,000).[37]
Italy is home to around 40,000 Jews,[37][38] who are one of the most ancient Jewish communities in the world. Jewish presence dates to the pre-Christian Roman period and has continued uninterrupted up to the present, despite periods of extreme persecution and occasional expulsions from parts of the country. Native Italian Jews, who form the core of the community in Rome, practice the minhag Italian Jews, or "Italkim", but there are also Ashkenazi Jews who have settled in the North, especially in the lands of the former Republic of Venice (Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and eastern Lombardy) and Piedmont, since the late Middle Ages, and Sephardi Jews, who have established themselves mostly in Livorno, Florence, Venice and several cities of Emilia, after their expulsion from the Kingdom of Naples.[39] The Jewish community of Milan, the country's second largest after Rome's, is the most international in character and composition, notably including a substantial number of Mizrahi Jews originating from Libya and the Middle East.[40] The twenty-one Jewish local communities are affiliated with the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, which counts 25,000 members[41] and is currently led by Noemi Di Segni, a woman.
According to CESNUR (a non-profit organisation focused on studying religious pluralism), in 2023 in Italy there were about 3,200 adherents to pre-Christian, neo-pagan or neo-shamanic indigenous religions.[37] Modern forms of native polytheism is represented by Reconstructionist Roman religion, which includes organisations such as Nova Roma, the Associazione Tradizionale Pietas, Communitas Populi Romani, the Movimento Tradizionale Romano, and the Societas Hesperiana pro Culto Deorum. There are also pagans belonging to other European religions, such as Heathenism, to which the Comunit Odinista and the Tempio del Lupo belong; Druidism, Hellenism and Wicca.[42]
Immigration has brought to Italy many religious minorities, especially Islam, Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy. By the numbers, in 2023 the country was home to around 2.3 million Muslims and virtually 1.8 Orthodox Christians.[37] Among the latter, especially relevant are the Romanian Orthodox Church, which has a diocese of Italy, and the Greek Orthodox Church through the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, whose Archdiocese of Italy and Exarchate of Southern Europe has its see in Venice. Massimo Introvigne, founder and director of CESNUR once predicted that, thanks to continued immigration from Eastern Europe, Orthodox Christians could soon become the country's second largest religious group, overtaking Muslims.[43]
Also Protestantism, especially in its Evangelical and Pentecostal forms, is on the rise: Introvigne recalls how Giorgio Bouchard, a Waldensian pastor, told him that "when he was born, the typical Italian Protestant was a man, lived in Piedmont, had a last name like Bouchard and was a Waldensian", while "today, the typical Italian Protestant believer is a woman, lives in Campania or Sicily, is named Esposito and is a Pentecostal."[44] Not surprisingly the Assemblies of God in Italy (150,000 members), the Federation of Pentecostal Churches (50,000) and several smaller Evangelical/Pentecostal denominations have the majority of their communities in the South.[37][45][46] Additionally, several foreign-born churches, especially African Pentecostal and African-initiated churches, mostly Evangelical and/or Pentecostal, are taking roots in the country, especially in the North,[47][48] where most foreign residents live.
Among the fastest-growing new religious denominations in Italy a special place is held by the Jehovah's Witnesses (who count around 414,000 faithful, including both members and other people regularly attending the Congregation's meetings).[37][49] Then come four faiths professed mainly by immigrants: Buddhists (360,000),[37] Hindus (220,000),[37] Sikhs,[50] and Mormons (28,500).[37][51] According to Caritas Italiana (the CEI's charitable arm), in 2023 the immigrant population was 48.2% Christian (26.8% Orthodox, 16.5% Catholic, 4.3% Protestant and 0.7% other), 34.2% Muslim, 3.3% Hindu and 2.8% Buddhist.[37] According to the same source, in 2012 Italy was home to 850 "African Neo-Pentecostal churches", 750 foreign-language Catholic communities, 655 mosques or other Islamic houses of worship, 355 Orthodox parishes, 126 Buddhist temples, 60 Sikh ones and 2 Hindu ones.[52]
Sikhs are a growing religious minority in Italy, which has the second biggest Sikh population in Europe after the United Kingdom and sixth largest number of Sikhs in the world. Differently from CESNUR, according to other estimates, there might be between 200,000 to 220,000 Sikhs in Italy.[50][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64] Most Sikhs currently reside and work in the agricultural sector in Emilia (mostly in the Parmesan cheese district), Lazio and Veneto.[65][66][67][68] 5,000-5,800 Sikh soldiers died for the liberation of Italy during World War II. [69][70][71]
The religious composition of the Italian population (2023 estimate: 58,997,201 people, including 53,966,485 Italian citizens and 5,030,716 foreign residents)[72] is shown in the table below. The primary data source is the aforementioned CESNUR, which includes the data on foreign residents provided by Caritas Italiana.[37][73]
Due to the lack of a single, coherent and statistically accurate source, the figures are to be taken with a grain of salt and sums do not necessarily add up. The number of Catholics among Italian citizens is calculated using the latest Eurobarometer poll, released in 2021: according to the survey 79.2% of Italians are Catholic.[17] The numbers of Christians are consequently calculated, including that number and the data provided by CESNUR and Caritas Italiana.
According to the 2017 Being Christian in Western Europe survey by Pew, 58% of Italians consider religion to be very or somewhat important.[86] Italy was the only country in the survey having more practising Christians than non-practising ones.[87] Italy is the third European Union member in terms of highest weekly church attendance rates after Poland and Ireland.[88] From 2001 to 2022 [religious practice in Italy has steadily decreased. Although in surveys most of the population claims a religious identity,[a] according to the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) data, less than 19%[b] of Italians have declared themselves to be practicing. While the proportion of those who have never practiced a religion has doubled, from 16% in 2001 to 31% in 2022.[89][90][91]
64591212e2