Italy
A limb of southern Europe stretching out into the Mediterranean, Italy is a nation whose Roman past penetrates deeply into European cultural history, and whose Renaissance prefigured the modern humanist movement. Despite this, the Catholic Church remains a predominant force in the country today.
According to a 2021 study by the independent Center for Studies of New Religions (CESNUR), an estimated 74.5% of the population are Catholic, 4.1% are Christians of other denominations, 3.7% are Muslim, 2.2 % are followers of other religions, including Buddhists, Jews, Hindus, Baha’is, and Sikhs and 15.3% are non-religious.1US State Department, 2019 report on International Religious Freedom; Italy, accessed October 2024 https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/italy/ The non-religious are by far the largest “religious” minority in Italy, consisting of 15.3% of the population as of 2019.2Giovanni Gaetani, “Gli atei esistono: facciamocene una ragione”, Ad Altezza D’Uomo, un blog di filosofia umanista, 7 December 2019
https://adaltezzaduomo.com/2019/12/07/gli-atei-esistono/
| Constitution and government | Education and children’s rights | Family, community, society, religious courts and tribunals | Freedom of expression advocacy of humanist values |
|---|---|---|---|
| Severe Discrimination |
| Systemic Discrimination |
| Mostly Satisfactory |
Constitution and government
Although since 1948 the Italian Constitution always guaranteed freedom of religion, it was only in 1979 that the Constitutional Court affirmed the equality of rights for the non-religious,3La Corte Costituzionale, Sentenza n.117, 1979
https://giurcost.org/decisioni/1979/0117s-79.html and only in 1989 did laicità (neutrality of the State with respect to religions) become a Constitutional principle (following a judicial ruling of the Court).4La Corte Costituzionale, Sentenza 203, 11 April 1989,
https://www.cortecostituzionale.it/actionSchedaPronuncia.do?anno=1989&numero=203#:~:text=Il%20principio%20di%20laicit%C3%A0%2C%20quale,di%20pluralismo%20confessionale%20e%20culturale; Davide Ludovisi, “30 anni dopo la sentenza della Corte costituzionale, come sta la laicità in Italia?”, WIRED, 19 April 2019
https://www.wired.it/attualita/politica/2019/04/19/sentenza-laicita-italia-30-anni-bilancio/?refresh_ce=
Until its revision in 1984, the Concordat with the Catholic Church (which has constitutional status) implied that Italy formally had a State religion.
A web of accords and concordats, with some notable exceptions
The government keeps a complex system of legal agreements with various religious communities. It gives support to religious communities according to these accords. A lack thereof does not affect someone’s rights to believe, but prevents a belief group from receiving many privileges available to other communities.
As of 2024, Italy has established agreements with thirteen religious groups, including the concordat with the Catholic Church, Orthodox Christians, Jews, Baptists, Lutherans, Hindus, Jehovah’s Witnesses and some Buddhist organizations (the last having been approved with the Istituto Buddista Italiano Soka Gakkai in 2016).5“Servizio per i rapporti con le confessioni religiose e per le relazioni istituzionali”, Governo Italiano Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri, accessed September 2024
https://presidenza.governo.it/USRI/confessioni/intese_indice.html Muslims comprise the biggest group without an agreement, mostly because of the lack of a unified representative body.
The Union of Rationalist Atheist and Agnostics (Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti – UAAR), a Member Organization of Humanists International, requested an agreement with the State on the grounds that religious beliefs should not earn their adherents more rights than non-believers. However, in 1996 the Undersecretary of State responded that these accords “cannot be extended to other associations that don’t have a religious nature”. In the same year, UAAR appealed to the President of the Republic, on the basis that several constitutional rulings establish equality between the rights of religious organizations and of non-religious life-stance associations. This appeal was won. Nevertheless, the Council of Ministers (i.e. the executive branch of the government) gave a negative answer in 2003, and the resistance to accepting the equality of non-religious worldviews has persisted, producing a sequence of sentences, appeals, wins and losses that span two decades,6“Ateismo e legislazione italiana”, Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti, accessed September 2024
https://www.uaar.it/laicita/ateismo-legislazione-italiana/ and remain ongoing. In 2016, the Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the government, establishing that it is within the government’s prerogatives to arbitrarily pick the organizations entitled to enter into an agreement, which to date has been granted to religious denominations only.7“Iniziative legali: Intesa con lo Stato”, Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti, last updated March 2024, https://www.uaar.it/uaar/iniziative-legali/#09
Privileging the Catholic Church
Among the privileged religions, Roman Catholicism is the dominant faith, and by far the most privileged. Its ministers, for example, are present in several institutions of the State, and paid for with taxpayers’ money; they can be found in hospitals, prisons, military bases, nursing homes and university campuses.8“Assistenza religiosa”, Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti, last updated December 2016, https://www.uaar.it/laicita/assistenza-religiosa/; “Contributi regionali per i cappellani negli ospedali”, Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti, accessed October 2024, https://www.icostidellachiesa.it/contributi-regionali-per-i-cappellani-negli-ospedali/ In all these places, other religions can have their representatives, although unpaid.9“Assistenza spirituale: nelle strutture ospedaliere è a pagamento”, Nove da Firenze, 7 April 2011, https://www.nove.firenze.it/b104072126-assistenza-spirituale-nelle-strutture-ospedaliere-e-a-pagamento.htm Secular or non-religious representatives, however, are admitted only in limited cases.10 Paolo Viana,“Fatebenefratelli. In ospedale l’assistenza spirituale può essere (anche) «laica»”, Avenire, 30 April 2019, https://www.avvenire.it/chiesa/pagine/in-ospedale-lassistenza-spirituale-pu-essere-anche-laica
In the media, the Catholic Church is by far dominant. A 2015 study showed that 95% of the television time dedicated to religions was allotted to the Catholic Church. This includes the news, and mass-culture programs.11Eleonora Bianchini, “La religione cattolica occupa il 95% dello spazio in tv. Anche grazie a Bergoglio”, Il Fatto Quotidiano, 25 May 2015, https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2015/05/25/la-religione-cattolica-occupa-il-95-dello-spazio-in-tv-anche-grazie-a-bergoglio/1698717/ The Italian state television, RAI, has a whole department, RAI Vaticano, solely dedicated to the task of propagating Catholic messages.12“Home Page”, Rai Vaticano accessed October 2024, http://www.raivaticano.rai.it/dl/portali/site/page/Page-4898a1ce-a504-4146-b7ed-99bc5c8157f4.html?refresh_ce During the spring 2020 pandemic lockdown, every single day RAI 1, the most important and followed channel of the state television, aired Pope Francis’ holy mass live inside “Uno Mattina”, its most popular morning show.13Christopher Lamb, “Half a million tune into Pope’s daily Mass”, The Tablet, 19 March 2020, https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/12608/half-a-million-tune-into-pope-s-daily-mass Conversely, the time dedicated to humanism and non-belief was almost non-existent.
A religious tax is heavily biased towards the Catholic Church. Every taxpayer has to give 0.008% (“8 per mille”) of his taxes to either a recognized religion or to the State. Most taxpayers choose neither, assuming that their share will go to the State, but instead the share from those who do not specify the beneficiary is divided among the possible recipients according to the relative number of expressed choices.14“8 per mille: cos’è, come funziona, quali sono i beneficiari?”, Italia non profit, accessed October 2024, https://italianonprofit.it/risorse/definizioni/8-per-mille/ Since in Italy the majority identify at least nominally as Catholic, most of the money ends up being shared with the Catholic Church. In 2015, only 34.46% of the taxpayers showed a preference towards the Catholic Church, but it received 79.87% of the funds.15“Otto per mille”, Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti, updated 15 December 2018, https://www.uaar.it/laicita/otto-per-mille/ This mechanism has been denounced as inadequate and misleading by the Corte dei Conti (Court of Audit), which has also exposed the discrimination against the religious groups not recognized by the State.16“La scelta dell’8 per mille dell’Irpef da parte dei contribuenti e l’audit dell’agenzia delle entrate sui comportamenti degli intermediari”, Corte di Conti, Deliberazione 29 ottobre 2018, n. 24/2018/G, https://www.corteconti.it/Download?id=2c691fbf-9f6c-4cce-b200-e901d943f5b4 And while the secularization of Italian society steadily increases, the disproportion is still staggering: less than 28% explicitly chose the Church as the “8 per mille” recipient in 2022, but the Catholic Bishops will receive more than 69%.17 “Otto per mille, serie storiche”, Ministero Economia e Finanze, accessed October 2024, https://www1.finanze.gov.it/finanze/stat_8xMilleSerie/public/index.php?&req_classe=01
The Italian tax on real estate has long been denounced by UAAR as favoring the Catholic Church. The details have varied over the years, but the Italian Government for a long time exempted church-owned schools, hotels and private hospitals from paying this tax.18Marco Ventura, “Italian Church and State Ambiguities Challenged by the Debt Crisis. The ICI/IMU Affair”, Observatoire des Religions et de la Laïcité, 22 March 2012,
https://o-re-la.ulb.be/analyses/item/194-italian-church-and-state-ambiguities-challenged-by-the-debt-crisis-the-ici/imu-affair.html Further to a dispute at the European Commission and the European Court of Justice (ECJ), in 2018 the ECJ appeal judges ”condemned” Italy to recover the arrears.19“Italy must get tax back from Vatican, EU rules”, DW News, 11 June 2018, https://www.dw.com/en/italy-must-get-tax-back-from-vatican-eu-rules/a-46179475 The Italian Government, again, tried to stall the Court’s demands, in an attempt not to displease the Vatican, by answering that an ad-hoc law was required. In 2019, the “Movimento 5 Stelle” deposited such a law in the Senate,20“Imu-Ici della Chiesa: in Senato la proposta M5S per recuperare 5 miliardi”, 24 Italia, 24 October 2019, https://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/imu-ici-chiesa-senato-proposta-m5s-recuperare-5-miliardi-ACtyBMu but even if it came from one of the ruling majority parties at that moment, this proposal was never discussed. Since then, almost one legislation per year has been drafted, but none discussed so far, prompting the European Commission to repeatedly call out Italy’s non-compliance.21“La Ue all’Italia: «L’Ici va recuperata anche sulle attività della Chiesa»”, Il Sole 24 Ore, March 2023, https://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/ue-italia-ici-va-recuperata-anche-attivita-chiesa-AEOPACxC?refresh_ce=1
UAAR has estimated that when this “religion tax”, the costs of religious personnel, and all the other privileges of the Catholic Church are added together, more than 6 billion euros are given by the State to the Church every year.22 “La Chiesa ci costa 6 miliardi di euro l’anno. Al via la campagna #Chiedilialoro”, A ragion veduta Il mondo osservato dall’Uaar, 25 October 2016, https://blog.uaar.it/2016/10/25/chiesa-costa-miliardi-euro-anno-campagna-chiedilialoro/
Italian legislation still allows privileged judicial treatment of the Catholic church.23Accordo tra l’Italia e la Santa Sede e le successive intese di attuazione, https://presidenza.governo.it/usri/confessioni/accordo_indice.html This is a likely reason for the low numbers of prosecutions of child abuse cases within the church compared to other European countries. For example, police must inform the bishop before undertaking certain methods of investigation on members of his clergy, which could make cover-ups much easier.24D.L. 28/8/1989, n. 271, art. 129 https://www.normattiva.it/esporta/attoCompleto?atto.dataPubblicazioneGazzetta=1989-08-05&atto.codiceRedazionale=089G0340
Testing church-state relations and religious privilege: the “Crucifix affair”
A glaring sign of privilege for Catholicism is the presence of the Crucifix in schools and public offices, including tribunals.25“Crocifissi negli edifici pubblici”, Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti, accessed September 2024, https://www.uaar.it/laicita/crocifissi/
A crucial test for the separation of church and state took place in 2003, when a member of UAAR, with the support of the association, attempted to obtain the removal of crucifixes from the classrooms of the school that her son attended, arguing that such displays were a patent sign that the State is not neutral when it comes to religion.26“Crocifissi negli edifici pubblici”, Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti, accessed September 2024, https://www.uaar.it/laicita/crocifissi/ The request was denied by the school, and was then addressed to the regional Administrative Court, which in 2005 gave a negative answer, with a peculiar rationale:
“the crucifix [is a] symbol of a particular history, culture and national identity […] and an expression of some of the secular principles of the community”.27Unofficial translation: “il crocifisso inteso come simbolo di una particolare storia, cultura e identità nazionale [….] di un sistema di valori di libertà, eguaglianza, dignità umana e tolleranza religiosa e quindi anche della laicità dello Stato”, Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale per il Veneto, Sezione III, Sentenza n.1110, 22 marzo 2005,
https://www.eius.it/giurisprudenza/2005/053
After the Council of State confirmed the verdict, the last resort was the European Court of Human Rights. In 2009, a first-instance Chamber of the Court ruled that crucifixes should not be present in classrooms, noting that by aligning the schools with a particular religion such religious symbols may serve as signs of exclusion and marginalization.28European Court of Human Rights, Case of Lautsi v Italy, Application no. 30814/06, 3 November 2009, https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22dmdocnumber%22:[%22857725%22],%22itemid%22:[%22001-95589%22]} (accessed October 2024) But some members of the Italian government responded with reactionary fervor to the ruling:
“We won’t remove the crucifix. They might as well die, we will not remove it”
— From a 2009 television interview of the then Minister of Defence Ignazio La Russa.29“Il Ministro La Russa a ”La vita in diretta”: ”Questa Rai è insopportabile… Possono morire ma il crocefisso non lo togliamo””, Valdesanet, 5 November 2009
https://archivio.valdelsa.net/notizia/il-ministro-la-russa-a—la-vita-in-diretta—–questa-rai-e-insopportabile-possono-morire-ma-il-crocefisso-non-lo-togliamo–
The government appealed immediately to the Grand Chamber, which, in March 2011, overturned the previous decision, declaring that every European State has a “margin of appreciation” in religious matters, and that the crucifix is a religious, but passive, symbol.30Cour européene des droits de l’homme, Saisine de la grande chambre, requête n.30814/06 https://7676076fde29cb34e26d-759f611b127203e9f2a0021aa1b7da05.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/eclj/LAUTSI_ricorso_italia.pdf
Another case went before Italy’s Supreme Court in September 2021. High school teacher, Franco Coppoli, had been suspended in 2014 for repeatedly removing a crucifix from the wall of the classroom in which he was teaching. Two courts had previously rejected the appeal against the suspension and the Supreme Court followed suit stating that the crucifix represents, “the lived experience of a community and the cultural tradition of a people”.31Ewout Kieckens, RD, “Crucifix can remain in classroom in Italy”, Cristian Network Europe, 16 September 2021, https://cne.news/article/147-crucifix-can-remain-in-classroom-in-italy; Paolo Fucili, “Continued controversy over crucifixes in Italian classrooms”, The Catholic World Report, 29 November 2021, https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2021/11/29/continued-controversy-over-crucifixes-in-italian-classrooms/
Nativity scenes are another religious symbol that have caused controversy in recent years. The current government drafted a law in December 2023, still to be discussed in parliament, seeking to persecute schools who choose not to display the scenes during the traditional Christmas period.32Kathryn Armstrong, “Italy schools that scrap nativity could face fine”, BBC, 21 December 2023, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67784060; Lorenzo Tondo, “Italy’s ruling party drafts law to ‘safeguard’ school nativity scenes”, The Guardian, 21 December 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/21/italys-ruling-party-drafts-law-to-safeguard-school-nativity-scenes
Education and Children’s Rights
The privileging of Catholicism in schools persists: the Concordat33Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri, Accordo tra l’Italia e la Santa Sede e le successive intese di attuazione, 18 February 1984 (accessed October 2024)
https://presidenza.governo.it/USRI/confessioni/accordo_indice.html#1 dictates that in all levels of education there be “Catholic Religion Teaching”, delivered by teachers chosen by the Church, but paid for by the State. This obligation does not extend to universities, although students in Catholic universities have to undertake a Theology exam regardless of their chosen path of studies, both for entry and during their studies.34“I quesiti religiosi nei test di ammissione alla Cattolica”, ammessione.it, 31 March 2023, https://www.ammissione.it/info-risorse/cattolica-quesiti-religiosi-nel-test-di-ammissione/3083
An alternative to the teaching of religion is meant to be ensured by all schools, be it an alternative subject, individual study assisted by a teacher, individual study alone, or leaving the school premises. The alternative subject can be anything that the available teachers of the school deem themselves capable of delivering, and not necessarily a civic/humanist topic. Those who choose this alternative subject are entitled to it by law.35Agata Scarafilo, “Legge 107/2015 e insegnamento alternativo alla Religione Cattolica”, Edschool, 24 October 2016, https://www.edscuola.eu/wordpress/?p=82823
Notwithstanding, UAAR reports several accounts of schools that have allegedly tried to prevent students and parents exercising their right to refuse the default Catholic teaching, often on the grounds of conformism, integration, bureaucratic difficulties and alleged lack of funds. In certain cases, the easiest way to escape religious instruction seems to be to declare oneself as adherent to another religion, be it true or not.36“Ora alternativa: le testimonianze”, Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti, accessed September 2024,
https://www.uaar.it/uaar/campagne/progetto-ora-alternativa/testimonianze.html
Pastoral visits by clergy are often allowed in schools during lesson time, and the same often happens for religious ceremonies. Mass is formally prohibited in school time,37 “Messe, preghiere, benedizioni e visite pastorali nella scuola pubblica”, Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti, accessed October 2024, https://www.uaar.it/laicita/visite-pastorali/ but it is not uncommon to get around this by “suspending” the classes for the duration of the mass. Blessings inside the school premises are also often allowed in schools. However, they became a controversial topic after 20 parents and teachers made an appeal to the Regional Administrative Tribunal (TAR) Emilia Romagna for the cancellation of such activities on school grounds during Easter. The issue was handed over to the Consiglio di Stato (Council of State) where it was ruled that blessings were legitimate outside of school hours and in extracurricular activities, at the voluntary presence of those who wished to participate. The judges of the Consiglio di Stato also added a purely religious reasoning, whereby the rite of benediction only “makes sense if it is celebrated in a specific place, while it would not make sense (or, in any case, the same sense) if it was celebrated elsewhere”.38Unofficial translation: “ha senso in quanto celebrato in un luogo determinato, mentre non avrebbe senso (o, comunque, il medesimo senso) se celebrato altrove”, Consiglio di Stato, Sentenza 27 marzo 2017, n. 1388, https://www.eius.it/giurisprudenza/2017/127
UAAR assists families affected by religion-based discrimination and abusive religious activities at school through its “SOS Laicità” online service, providing, among other things, legal counseling and templates for legal actions.39“S.O.S. Laicità”, Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti, accessed September 2024, https://www.uaar.it/laicita/sos/
Family, community and society
Religious marriage
Both civil and religious marriages are recognised in Italy. For a religious marriage to be considered valid it must be performed by a Roman Catholic priest who registers the marriage with the civil authorities. In the case of non-Catholic religious ceremonies, a civil ceremony must be performed beforehand to ensure the legality of the marriage.
It is not infrequent that people seeking divorce pursue an annulment from the Church rather than through the Italian legal system. When obtained, it makes the wedding invalid from the beginning (as if it were never in existence) not only on the religious level, but also on the civil one, with relevant consequences: for instance, civil courts have to recognize the religious annulment and revoke the alimony rights for the less well-off partner. However, the Court of Cassation has the final word on the matter, and in several cases it has decided to maintain the alimony.40Avv. Piergiorgio Rinaldi, “Annullamento del matrimonio religioso: Non sono dovuti gli alimenti”, Studio Legale Rinaldi, accessed September 2024, https://avvocatorinaldi.com/annullamento-del-matrimonio-religiosonon-sono-dovuti-gli-alimenti/
Unequal treatment of religious belief groups
Humanists left behind
The steady growth of humanist funerals and wedding ceremonies (which still, at the end of 2024, have not been permitted to confer legal marital status) is hindered by municipalities that do not have appropriate places to provide for the ceremony, even though the law says they must provide them (for funerals: Decree of the President of the Republic of 14 January 1997).41 Giulia Torlone, “Il funerale laico? Praticamente impossibile Quante difficoltà per chi muore senza dio”, Lespresso, 31 May 2017, https://lespresso.it/c/attualita/2017/5/30/il-funerale-laico-praticamente-impossibile-quante-difficolta-per-chi-muore-senza-dio/9958
Frequently, State authorities tend to attribute a higher value to religion and to inflate its significance over secular worldviews. For example, in a paradigmatic 2010 ruling, the Tribunal of Milan, called upon to decide whether a mother could send her child to church against the father’s will, not only ruled in her favor, but even made a value judgment about her religion over the father’s non-religious views – a “moral evaluation” subsequently censored by the appellate judge as going against the principle of laicità.42Corte d’Appello di Milano, Decreto 21, febbraio 2011, https://www.olir.it/documenti/decreto-21-febbraio-2011/
Marginalization of Muslims
Although Islam has more members than some religious groups with official status — including Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism -, it does not have official recognition.43“Dimensioni del pluralismo religioso in Italia (2023)”, Le Religioni in Italia, accessed October 2024, https://cesnur.com/dimensioni-del-pluralismo-religioso-in-italia/ Therefore, no Muslim organization may receive public funding from the “8 per mille” mechanism. Since 2005, the Ministry of the Interior has established, under different names, representation groups of Italian Islam to foster dialogue, and ultimately a legal agreement, between the government and the Italian Muslim communities reunited under a common umbrella organization.44La Consulta con l’Islam, Ministero degli Intern, accessed October 2024 https://www1.interno.gov.it/mininterno/export/sites/default/it/sezioni/sala_stampa/notizie/immigrazione/app_notizia_22030.html Muslim organizations and leaders have yet to reach a consensus in order to sign an accord with the government.45Mustafa Hameed, “Italian Muslims Face Uncertain Future”, Huffpost, 28 May 2013, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/italian-muslims-face-uncertain-future_n_3347178?guccounter=1
The official recognition of Islam has not been the only issue surrounding the marginalization of the Muslim community in Italy. The unwillingness or inability of the government or local administrations to allow the construction of mosques in Italian cities has led to more than 900 unofficial Muslim places of worship being constructed.46Ylenia Gostoli, “Italy’s Muslims uneasy after election of far-right government”, Aljazeera, 26 September 2018, https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2018/9/26/italys-muslims-uneasy-after-election-of-far-right-government
For instance, the Islamic association in Pisa appealed to the Tuscan regional administrative tribunal after the Pisan City Council blocked the construction of a mosque and decided to reconvert it into a parking area stating that the land lot was not big enough for such a building.47US State Department, 2019 report on International Religious Freedom; Italy, accessed October 2024 https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/italy/ According to opponents to the project, the main reason for blocking it was the allegedly dubious origin of the funds, and the suspicion of links with the Muslim Brotherhood.48“La lunga storia della moschea a Pisa”, Il Post, 19 June 2020, https://www.ilpost.it/2020/06/19/moschea-pisa-islam-lega-pd/
In June 2023, the government introduced a bill that would prohibit religious groups without an accord from using their own or rented properties for religious activities. At a parliamentary hearing Muslim and Christian communities opposed the law as discriminatory and in violation of constitutional principles,49US State Department, 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Italy, accessed October 2024, https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/italy/ but nonetheless it has already been approved by one of the two parliamentary chambers and it is likely to be approved in the other.50“Camera, approvata legge anti-moschee. Opposizioni: “Incostituzionale e discriminatoria””, Sky tg24, 8 May 2024, https://tg24.sky.it/politica/2024/05/08/legge-anti-moschee
Sexual and Reproductive Rights
Impact of conscientious objection on access to safe abortion
Abortion was legalized in 1978, with a law (known by its number, 194) that allows women to terminate pregnancies during the first trimester, and after 90 days only if the mother’s life or health is at risk or if there are serious fetal pathologies.
Law 194 gives healthcare practitioners the option not to provide services that are specific and necessary to an abortive intervention on the grounds of a conscientious objection.
On average, conscientious objectors among Italian gynecologists amount to just over 70%. In some regions, this figure is higher. In one region in Central Italy, Molise, for example, 93% of gynecologists are conscientious objectors. Sicily and Lazio are among other regions where this number is also over 80%.51Tommaso Autorino, Francesco Mattioli, Letizia Mencarini “The impact of gynecologists’ conscientious objection on abortion access”, Social Science Research, Volume 87, 102403, March 2020, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049089X20300016 According to the Italian Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics (UAAR), this number continues to grow due to the Vatican’s influence on Italian politics and society, which helps maintain a stigma around abortion services.52 “Aborto”, Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti, accessed October 2024, https://www.uaar.it/laicita/aborto/
Research from 2020 shows that the use of conscientious objection to refuse abortion services by gynecologists in Italy, hampers abortion access at the local level and leads to longer waiting times. The research also found that the negative consequences of conscientious objection has a stronger impact on women living in lower-income regions or those experiencing other forms of economic disadvantage.53Tommaso Autorino, Francesco Mattioli, Letizia Mencarini “The impact of gynecologists’ conscientious objection on abortion access”, Social Science Research, Volume 87, 102403, March 2020, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049089X20300016
The UN Human Rights Committee has expressed concerns regarding difficulties in accessing legal abortions in Italy due to the high number of conscientious objectors and their distribution across the country,54 United Nations Human Rights Committee, “Concluding Observations on the Sixth Periodic Report of Italy (2017)”, CCPR/C/ITA/CO/6,
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CCPR/C/ITA/CO/6&Lang=En and on two separate occasions the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR)55European Committee of Social Rights Complaint No. 87/2012, International Planned Parenthood Federation – European network (IPPF EN) V. Italy. decision on the merits
https://hudoc.esc.coe.int/app/conversion/docx/pdf?library=ESC&id=cc-87-2012-dmerits-en&filename=cc-87-2012-dmerits-en.pdf (2014); European Committee of Social Rights Complaint No. 91/2013 confederazione generale Italiana del lavoro (CGIL) v. Italy. decision on admissibility and the merits, https://hudoc.esc.coe.int/app/conversion/docx/pdf?library=ESC&id=cc-91-2013-dadmissandmerits-en&filename=cc-91-2013-dadmissandmerits-en.pdf (2016) found Italy to be in breach of international treaties for failing to ensure the right to healthcare, owing to the deficiencies in service provision caused by health personnel invoking conscientious objection. The ECSR also noted that as a result of the lack of abortion providers, pregnant women are in some cases forced to travel to another region or abroad.
Impact of religious anti-abortion activists on access to safe abortion
It has been reported that a federation of anti-abortion activists, linked to the US religious Right, also have an impact on access to safe abortion in Italy. The federation, called Movimento per la Vita (‘Movement for Life’), follows a Catholic doctrine and has, since 2013, been in partnership with the US Christian Right group Heartbeat International.56Address by Pope Francis to members of the directive council of the Movimento per la Vita, 2 February 2019, https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/it/speeches/2019/february/documents/papa-francesco_20190202_movimento-vita.html Heartbeat opposes modern contraception, and has been a partner of the ultra-conservative World Congress of Families (WCF) network. The WCF held its 2019 global gathering in Verona, where Matteo Salvini – then Italy’s deputy prime minister and leader of the far-Right Lega party – gave a keynote speech.57“Italian government supports world congress of homophobic, sexist and anti-abortion fundamentalists”, Humanists International, 27 March 2019, https://humanists.international/2019/03/italian-government-supports-world-congress-of-homophobic-sexist-and-anti-abortion-fundamentalists/ Members of Movimento per la Vita seek out women in hospitals who are considering abortions and try to stop them from making that choice by providing them with false and intentionally scary information, such as abortion causing “post-abortion syndrome” or a 50% increase in breast cancer risk.58Francesca Visser, “Inside Italian public hospitals, a US-linked anti-abortion network is ‘humiliating’ women”, openDemocracy, 9 March 2020, https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/inside-italian-public-hospitals-i-saw-how-a-us-linked-anti-abortion-network-is-humiliating-women/
According to data from the Ministry of Health, there are only 381 public or private health facilities that provide abortions nationwide.59“Relazione del Ministro della Salute sulla attuazione della legge contenente norme per la tutela sociale della maternità e per l’interruzione volontaria di gravidanza”, Ministero della Salute, 31 December 2018, https://www.salute.gov.it/imgs/C_17_pubblicazioni_2807_allegato.pdf Meanwhile, the anti-abortion centers in Movimento per la Vita’s network have grown to over 350.60“Tip of the Iceberg: Religious Extremist Funders against Human Rights for Sexuality and Reproductive Health in Europe 2009 – 2018,” European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual & Reproductive Rights, accessed October 2024 https://www.epfweb.org/sites/default/files/2021-06/Tip%20of%20the%20Iceberg%20June%202021%20Final.pdf
In April 2024, using an amendment to its European Union post-COVID recovery plan, the Italian Parliament voted in favor of allowing pro-life groups to be present in clinics that offer abortion consultations. The move has sparked a row within the EU with a number of European governments strongly criticizing it.61Paddy Belton, “Italy set to allow pro-life activists into pregnancy clinics”, Brussels Signal, 22 April 2024, https://brusselssignal.eu/2024/04/italy-set-to-allow-pro-life-activists-into-pregnancy-clinics/
LGBTI+ Rights
Same-sex civil partnerships became legal in Italy in 2016, making same-sex couples equal in law in all areas except adoption. While courts can legally allow second parent adoption, the government has been hardening its stance on same-sex parents by demanding local councils only list biological parents on birth certificates.62 Laura Bullens, “ ‘Ghost parents’: Same-sex couples in Italy are losing their rights”, France24, 14 September 2023, https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20230914-italian-pm-giorgia-meloni-wears-down-parental-rights-of-same-sex-couples In October 2024, the government brought in a law banning couples from going abroad to have a baby through surrogacy.63Maia Davies, “Italy bans couples from travelling abroad for surrogacy”, BBC News, 17 October 2024, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62rmv63069o Surrogacy was already illegal in the country64Alessia Riccioli, “Again on Surrogacy. The violation of Article 8 of the Convention: an analysis of the C. v. Italy judgment”, European Women’s Law and Gender – Università di Pisa, 7 September 2023,
https://euwonder.jus.unipi.it/2023/09/07/again-on-surrogacy-the-violation-of-article-8-of-the-convention-an-analysis-of-the-c-v-italy-judgment/ and this latest move is considered by many as a further targeting of the LGBTI+ community.
Despite UN recommendations, the Italian government has been fighting against legislation to address hate speech and discrimination against the LGBTI+ community. In 2021, it rejected the so-called “Zan Bill” which addressed hate speech and violence against women, LGBTI+ and disabled people. The Catholic Church had been vocal in its opposition of the bill arguing that it would restrict the Church’s freedom of thought.65Lorenzo Tondo,“ ‘Disgraceful’: Italy’s senate votes down anti-homophobic violence bill”, The Guardian, 27 October 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/27/italy-senate-votes-down-anti-homophobic-violence-bill More recently, the government has rejected similar policy initiatives coming from the EU.66 “Italy didn’t sign EU gay text because mirrors Zan”, ANSA, 17 May 2024, https://www.ansa.it/english/news/politics/2024/05/17/italy-didnt-sign-eu-gay-text-because-mirrors-zan-bill_8d391789-1919-4d62-bb9c-0bb39e2b76f3.html
Assisted Dying
In September 2019, a Constitutional Court ruling (242/2019)67Corte Constituzionale, Sentenza 242/2019, https://www.cortecostituzionale.it/actionSchedaPronuncia.do?anno=2019&numero=242 declared Article 580 of the criminal code unconstitutional, therefore decriminalizing assisted dying in the case of those aiding people suffering from an irreversible condition to die. However, despite the Court’s recommendation, the Italian Parliament has not yet passed a law regulating assisted dying.
Freedom of expression, advocacy of humanist values
Defamation and ‘blasphemy’
Defamation of religion is still a criminal offense under articles 403 and 404 of the Penal Code.
Article 403 punishes the conduct of “offending a religious confession by vilifying those who profess it” with a fine between €1,000 ($1,186) and €5,000 ($5,932). The fine is increased to €2,000-6,000 ($2,373-7,118) if the vilified person is a “minister of worship”, namely a clergyman of whatever creed.68Codice Penale, Articolo 403, “Offese a una confessione religiosa mediante vilipendio di persone” R.D. 19 ottobre 1930, n. 1398, accessed October 2024, https://www.brocardi.it/codice-penale/libro-secondo/titolo-iv/capo-i/art403.html?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=articolo&utm_content=nav_art_prec_top
Article 404 punishes with a fine from €1,000 ($1,186) to €5,000 ($5,931) “whoever, in a public place, or place of worship, by offending a religious confession, vilifies with insulting expressions things which form objects of worship, or are consecrated to worship, or are necessarily intended for the exercise of worship”. The article also specifies a prison term of up to 2 years for “anyone who publicly and intentionally destroys, scatters, deteriorates, renders useless or smears things that are objects of worship or are consecrated to worship or are necessarily intended for the exercise of worship”. The overlap here with criminal damage and inflation of the crime purely for “religious” objects is problematic, but so far it appears that a prison term would not apply except in cases of physical damage to religiously-defined property.69Unofficial translation: “(1)Chiunque, in un luogo destinato al culto, o in un luogo pubblico o aperto al pubblico, offendendo una confessione religiosa, vilipende con espressioni ingiuriose cose(2) che formino oggetto di culto, o siano consacrate al culto, o siano destinate necessariamente all’esercizio del culto [….] Chiunque pubblicamente e intenzionalmente distrugge, disperde, deteriora, rende inservibili o imbratta cose che formino oggetto di culto o siano consacrate al culto o siano destinate necessariamente all’esercizio del culto”. Codice Penale, Articolo 404, “Offese a una confessione religiosa mediante vilipendio o danneggiamento di cose”, R.D. 19 ottobre 1930, n. 1398, accessed October 2024, https://www.brocardi.it/codice-penale/libro-secondo/titolo-iv/capo-i/art404.html
‘Blasphemy’ per se also remains an administrative offense under Article 724, and it is punished with a fine between €51 ($60) and €309 ($367); it was a penal offense until as late as 1999.
In April 2024, a painting on display as part of an exhibition in Modena which appeared to depict Jesus receiving oral sex, caused public outrage.70James Imam, “ ‘Blasphemous’ painting of Jesus slashed, artist attacked at exhibition in Italian church” The Art Newspaper, 29 March 2024, https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2024/03/29/jesus-oral-sex-painting-andrea-saltini-slashed-knife-attack;
Tessa Solomon, “‘Blasphemous’ Christ Painting Vandalized, Artist Attacked at Exhibition in Former Italian Church”, ARTNews, 1 April 2024,
https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/blasphemous-christ-painting-vandalized-artist-attacked-italy-1234701505/;
“Intervista al Vescovo Castellucci sugli atti violenti al Museo diocesano”, Diocesi di Capri, 29 March 2024, https://diocesicarpi.it/intervista-al-vescovo-castellucci-sugli-atti-violenti-al-museo-diocesano/ The painting was subsequently vandalized and the artist attacked. Religious figures from the Catholic Church sought to diffuse the situation and defended the artist’s freedom of expression.
Also in April 2024, Italy’s advertising standards authority removed a television commercial in which nuns are offered crisps instead of hosts during Mass. The president of the Italian Association of Radio and Television Listeners called for the advert to be banned on the grounds that it was “blasphemous”. The regulator upheld the appeal and reminded the advertiser that their publicity “must not offend moral, civil and religious convictions”.71Angela Giuffrida,“Catholics’ fury as Italian TV ad depicts nuns eating crisps for communion”, The Guardian, 9 April 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/09/catholics-fury-as-italian-tv-ad-amica-chips-depicts-nuns-eating-crisps-as-altar-bread; Simon Caldwell, “Italian regulator pulls ‘blasphemous’ crisps advert from the airwaves”, Catholic Herald, 12 April 2024,
https://catholicherald.co.uk/italian-regulator-pulls-blasphemous-crisps-advert-from-the-airwaves/
Italian footballers have also been punished in recent years for using “blasphemous” language when caught swearing on the pitch with religious references. The offense has led to the Italian Football Federation imposing match bans on a number of players.72Hannah Brockhaus, “ Leading soccer goalkeeper in Italy faces penalty for blaspheming”, Catholic News Agency, 27 January 2021 https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/246265/leading-soccer-goalkeeper-in-italy-faces-penalty-for-blaspheming; “Lazio’s Lazzari latest Serie A player banned for blasphemy”, France 24, 16 February 2021, https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210216-lazio-s-lazzari-latest-serie-a-player-banned-for-blasphemy; “Frosinone goalkeeper Turati given one-match blasphemy ban”, The Score, accessed October 2024, https://www.thescore.com/seri/news/2696971
References
| ↑1, ↑47 | US State Department, 2019 report on International Religious Freedom; Italy, accessed October 2024 https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/italy/ |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | Giovanni Gaetani, “Gli atei esistono: facciamocene una ragione”, Ad Altezza D’Uomo, un blog di filosofia umanista, 7 December 2019 https://adaltezzaduomo.com/2019/12/07/gli-atei-esistono/ |
| ↑3 | La Corte Costituzionale, Sentenza n.117, 1979 https://giurcost.org/decisioni/1979/0117s-79.html |
| ↑4 | La Corte Costituzionale, Sentenza 203, 11 April 1989, https://www.cortecostituzionale.it/actionSchedaPronuncia.do?anno=1989&numero=203#:~:text=Il%20principio%20di%20laicit%C3%A0%2C%20quale,di%20pluralismo%20confessionale%20e%20culturale; Davide Ludovisi, “30 anni dopo la sentenza della Corte costituzionale, come sta la laicità in Italia?”, WIRED, 19 April 2019 https://www.wired.it/attualita/politica/2019/04/19/sentenza-laicita-italia-30-anni-bilancio/?refresh_ce= |
| ↑5 | “Servizio per i rapporti con le confessioni religiose e per le relazioni istituzionali”, Governo Italiano Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri, accessed September 2024 https://presidenza.governo.it/USRI/confessioni/intese_indice.html |
| ↑6 | “Ateismo e legislazione italiana”, Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti, accessed September 2024 https://www.uaar.it/laicita/ateismo-legislazione-italiana/ |
| ↑7 | “Iniziative legali: Intesa con lo Stato”, Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti, last updated March 2024, https://www.uaar.it/uaar/iniziative-legali/#09 |
| ↑8 | “Assistenza religiosa”, Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti, last updated December 2016, https://www.uaar.it/laicita/assistenza-religiosa/; “Contributi regionali per i cappellani negli ospedali”, Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti, accessed October 2024, https://www.icostidellachiesa.it/contributi-regionali-per-i-cappellani-negli-ospedali/ |
| ↑9 | “Assistenza spirituale: nelle strutture ospedaliere è a pagamento”, Nove da Firenze, 7 April 2011, https://www.nove.firenze.it/b104072126-assistenza-spirituale-nelle-strutture-ospedaliere-e-a-pagamento.htm |
| ↑10 | Paolo Viana,“Fatebenefratelli. In ospedale l’assistenza spirituale può essere (anche) «laica»”, Avenire, 30 April 2019, https://www.avvenire.it/chiesa/pagine/in-ospedale-lassistenza-spirituale-pu-essere-anche-laica |
| ↑11 | Eleonora Bianchini, “La religione cattolica occupa il 95% dello spazio in tv. Anche grazie a Bergoglio”, Il Fatto Quotidiano, 25 May 2015, https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2015/05/25/la-religione-cattolica-occupa-il-95-dello-spazio-in-tv-anche-grazie-a-bergoglio/1698717/ |
| ↑12 | “Home Page”, Rai Vaticano accessed October 2024, http://www.raivaticano.rai.it/dl/portali/site/page/Page-4898a1ce-a504-4146-b7ed-99bc5c8157f4.html?refresh_ce |
| ↑13 | Christopher Lamb, “Half a million tune into Pope’s daily Mass”, The Tablet, 19 March 2020, https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/12608/half-a-million-tune-into-pope-s-daily-mass |
| ↑14 | “8 per mille: cos’è, come funziona, quali sono i beneficiari?”, Italia non profit, accessed October 2024, https://italianonprofit.it/risorse/definizioni/8-per-mille/ |
| ↑15 | “Otto per mille”, Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti, updated 15 December 2018, https://www.uaar.it/laicita/otto-per-mille/ |
| ↑16 | “La scelta dell’8 per mille dell’Irpef da parte dei contribuenti e l’audit dell’agenzia delle entrate sui comportamenti degli intermediari”, Corte di Conti, Deliberazione 29 ottobre 2018, n. 24/2018/G, https://www.corteconti.it/Download?id=2c691fbf-9f6c-4cce-b200-e901d943f5b4 |
| ↑17 | “Otto per mille, serie storiche”, Ministero Economia e Finanze, accessed October 2024, https://www1.finanze.gov.it/finanze/stat_8xMilleSerie/public/index.php?&req_classe=01 |
| ↑18 | Marco Ventura, “Italian Church and State Ambiguities Challenged by the Debt Crisis. The ICI/IMU Affair”, Observatoire des Religions et de la Laïcité, 22 March 2012, https://o-re-la.ulb.be/analyses/item/194-italian-church-and-state-ambiguities-challenged-by-the-debt-crisis-the-ici/imu-affair.html |
| ↑19 | “Italy must get tax back from Vatican, EU rules”, DW News, 11 June 2018, https://www.dw.com/en/italy-must-get-tax-back-from-vatican-eu-rules/a-46179475 |
| ↑20 | “Imu-Ici della Chiesa: in Senato la proposta M5S per recuperare 5 miliardi”, 24 Italia, 24 October 2019, https://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/imu-ici-chiesa-senato-proposta-m5s-recuperare-5-miliardi-ACtyBMu |
| ↑21 | “La Ue all’Italia: «L’Ici va recuperata anche sulle attività della Chiesa»”, Il Sole 24 Ore, March 2023, https://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/ue-italia-ici-va-recuperata-anche-attivita-chiesa-AEOPACxC?refresh_ce=1 |
| ↑22 | “La Chiesa ci costa 6 miliardi di euro l’anno. Al via la campagna #Chiedilialoro”, A ragion veduta Il mondo osservato dall’Uaar, 25 October 2016, https://blog.uaar.it/2016/10/25/chiesa-costa-miliardi-euro-anno-campagna-chiedilialoro/ |
| ↑23 | Accordo tra l’Italia e la Santa Sede e le successive intese di attuazione, https://presidenza.governo.it/usri/confessioni/accordo_indice.html |
| ↑24 | D.L. 28/8/1989, n. 271, art. 129 https://www.normattiva.it/esporta/attoCompleto?atto.dataPubblicazioneGazzetta=1989-08-05&atto.codiceRedazionale=089G0340 |
| ↑25, ↑26 | “Crocifissi negli edifici pubblici”, Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti, accessed September 2024, https://www.uaar.it/laicita/crocifissi/ |
| ↑27 | Unofficial translation: “il crocifisso inteso come simbolo di una particolare storia, cultura e identità nazionale [….] di un sistema di valori di libertà, eguaglianza, dignità umana e tolleranza religiosa e quindi anche della laicità dello Stato”, Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale per il Veneto, Sezione III, Sentenza n.1110, 22 marzo 2005, https://www.eius.it/giurisprudenza/2005/053 |
| ↑28 | European Court of Human Rights, Case of Lautsi v Italy, Application no. 30814/06, 3 November 2009, https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22dmdocnumber%22:[%22857725%22],%22itemid%22:[%22001-95589%22]} (accessed October 2024) |
| ↑29 | “Il Ministro La Russa a ”La vita in diretta”: ”Questa Rai è insopportabile… Possono morire ma il crocefisso non lo togliamo””, Valdesanet, 5 November 2009 https://archivio.valdelsa.net/notizia/il-ministro-la-russa-a—la-vita-in-diretta—–questa-rai-e-insopportabile-possono-morire-ma-il-crocefisso-non-lo-togliamo– |
| ↑30 | Cour européene des droits de l’homme, Saisine de la grande chambre, requête n.30814/06 https://7676076fde29cb34e26d-759f611b127203e9f2a0021aa1b7da05.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/eclj/LAUTSI_ricorso_italia.pdf |
| ↑31 | Ewout Kieckens, RD, “Crucifix can remain in classroom in Italy”, Cristian Network Europe, 16 September 2021, https://cne.news/article/147-crucifix-can-remain-in-classroom-in-italy; Paolo Fucili, “Continued controversy over crucifixes in Italian classrooms”, The Catholic World Report, 29 November 2021, https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2021/11/29/continued-controversy-over-crucifixes-in-italian-classrooms/ |
| ↑32 | Kathryn Armstrong, “Italy schools that scrap nativity could face fine”, BBC, 21 December 2023, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67784060; Lorenzo Tondo, “Italy’s ruling party drafts law to ‘safeguard’ school nativity scenes”, The Guardian, 21 December 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/21/italys-ruling-party-drafts-law-to-safeguard-school-nativity-scenes |
| ↑33 | Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri, Accordo tra l’Italia e la Santa Sede e le successive intese di attuazione, 18 February 1984 (accessed October 2024) https://presidenza.governo.it/USRI/confessioni/accordo_indice.html#1 |
| ↑34 | “I quesiti religiosi nei test di ammissione alla Cattolica”, ammessione.it, 31 March 2023, https://www.ammissione.it/info-risorse/cattolica-quesiti-religiosi-nel-test-di-ammissione/3083 |
| ↑35 | Agata Scarafilo, “Legge 107/2015 e insegnamento alternativo alla Religione Cattolica”, Edschool, 24 October 2016, https://www.edscuola.eu/wordpress/?p=82823 |
| ↑36 | “Ora alternativa: le testimonianze”, Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti, accessed September 2024, https://www.uaar.it/uaar/campagne/progetto-ora-alternativa/testimonianze.html |
| ↑37 | “Messe, preghiere, benedizioni e visite pastorali nella scuola pubblica”, Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti, accessed October 2024, https://www.uaar.it/laicita/visite-pastorali/ |
| ↑38 | Unofficial translation: “ha senso in quanto celebrato in un luogo determinato, mentre non avrebbe senso (o, comunque, il medesimo senso) se celebrato altrove”, Consiglio di Stato, Sentenza 27 marzo 2017, n. 1388, https://www.eius.it/giurisprudenza/2017/127 |
| ↑39 | “S.O.S. Laicità”, Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti, accessed September 2024, https://www.uaar.it/laicita/sos/ |
| ↑40 | Avv. Piergiorgio Rinaldi, “Annullamento del matrimonio religioso: Non sono dovuti gli alimenti”, Studio Legale Rinaldi, accessed September 2024, https://avvocatorinaldi.com/annullamento-del-matrimonio-religiosonon-sono-dovuti-gli-alimenti/ |
| ↑41 | Giulia Torlone, “Il funerale laico? Praticamente impossibile Quante difficoltà per chi muore senza dio”, Lespresso, 31 May 2017, https://lespresso.it/c/attualita/2017/5/30/il-funerale-laico-praticamente-impossibile-quante-difficolta-per-chi-muore-senza-dio/9958 |
| ↑42 | Corte d’Appello di Milano, Decreto 21, febbraio 2011, https://www.olir.it/documenti/decreto-21-febbraio-2011/ |
| ↑43 | “Dimensioni del pluralismo religioso in Italia (2023)”, Le Religioni in Italia, accessed October 2024, https://cesnur.com/dimensioni-del-pluralismo-religioso-in-italia/ |
| ↑44 | La Consulta con l’Islam, Ministero degli Intern, accessed October 2024 https://www1.interno.gov.it/mininterno/export/sites/default/it/sezioni/sala_stampa/notizie/immigrazione/app_notizia_22030.html |
| ↑45 | Mustafa Hameed, “Italian Muslims Face Uncertain Future”, Huffpost, 28 May 2013, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/italian-muslims-face-uncertain-future_n_3347178?guccounter=1 |
| ↑46 | Ylenia Gostoli, “Italy’s Muslims uneasy after election of far-right government”, Aljazeera, 26 September 2018, https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2018/9/26/italys-muslims-uneasy-after-election-of-far-right-government |
| ↑48 | “La lunga storia della moschea a Pisa”, Il Post, 19 June 2020, https://www.ilpost.it/2020/06/19/moschea-pisa-islam-lega-pd/ |
| ↑49 | US State Department, 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Italy, accessed October 2024, https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/italy/ |
| ↑50 | “Camera, approvata legge anti-moschee. Opposizioni: “Incostituzionale e discriminatoria””, Sky tg24, 8 May 2024, https://tg24.sky.it/politica/2024/05/08/legge-anti-moschee |
| ↑51, ↑53 | Tommaso Autorino, Francesco Mattioli, Letizia Mencarini “The impact of gynecologists’ conscientious objection on abortion access”, Social Science Research, Volume 87, 102403, March 2020, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049089X20300016 |
| ↑52 | “Aborto”, Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti, accessed October 2024, https://www.uaar.it/laicita/aborto/ |
| ↑54 | United Nations Human Rights Committee, “Concluding Observations on the Sixth Periodic Report of Italy (2017)”, CCPR/C/ITA/CO/6, https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CCPR/C/ITA/CO/6&Lang=En |
| ↑55 | European Committee of Social Rights Complaint No. 87/2012, International Planned Parenthood Federation – European network (IPPF EN) V. Italy. decision on the merits https://hudoc.esc.coe.int/app/conversion/docx/pdf?library=ESC&id=cc-87-2012-dmerits-en&filename=cc-87-2012-dmerits-en.pdf (2014); European Committee of Social Rights Complaint No. 91/2013 confederazione generale Italiana del lavoro (CGIL) v. Italy. decision on admissibility and the merits, https://hudoc.esc.coe.int/app/conversion/docx/pdf?library=ESC&id=cc-91-2013-dadmissandmerits-en&filename=cc-91-2013-dadmissandmerits-en.pdf (2016) |
| ↑56 | Address by Pope Francis to members of the directive council of the Movimento per la Vita, 2 February 2019, https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/it/speeches/2019/february/documents/papa-francesco_20190202_movimento-vita.html |
| ↑57 | “Italian government supports world congress of homophobic, sexist and anti-abortion fundamentalists”, Humanists International, 27 March 2019, https://humanists.international/2019/03/italian-government-supports-world-congress-of-homophobic-sexist-and-anti-abortion-fundamentalists/ |
| ↑58 | Francesca Visser, “Inside Italian public hospitals, a US-linked anti-abortion network is ‘humiliating’ women”, openDemocracy, 9 March 2020, https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/inside-italian-public-hospitals-i-saw-how-a-us-linked-anti-abortion-network-is-humiliating-women/ |
| ↑59 | “Relazione del Ministro della Salute sulla attuazione della legge contenente norme per la tutela sociale della maternità e per l’interruzione volontaria di gravidanza”, Ministero della Salute, 31 December 2018, https://www.salute.gov.it/imgs/C_17_pubblicazioni_2807_allegato.pdf |
| ↑60 | “Tip of the Iceberg: Religious Extremist Funders against Human Rights for Sexuality and Reproductive Health in Europe 2009 – 2018,” European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual & Reproductive Rights, accessed October 2024 https://www.epfweb.org/sites/default/files/2021-06/Tip%20of%20the%20Iceberg%20June%202021%20Final.pdf |
| ↑61 | Paddy Belton, “Italy set to allow pro-life activists into pregnancy clinics”, Brussels Signal, 22 April 2024, https://brusselssignal.eu/2024/04/italy-set-to-allow-pro-life-activists-into-pregnancy-clinics/ |
| ↑62 | Laura Bullens, “ ‘Ghost parents’: Same-sex couples in Italy are losing their rights”, France24, 14 September 2023, https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20230914-italian-pm-giorgia-meloni-wears-down-parental-rights-of-same-sex-couples |
| ↑63 | Maia Davies, “Italy bans couples from travelling abroad for surrogacy”, BBC News, 17 October 2024, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62rmv63069o |
| ↑64 | Alessia Riccioli, “Again on Surrogacy. The violation of Article 8 of the Convention: an analysis of the C. v. Italy judgment”, European Women’s Law and Gender – Università di Pisa, 7 September 2023, https://euwonder.jus.unipi.it/2023/09/07/again-on-surrogacy-the-violation-of-article-8-of-the-convention-an-analysis-of-the-c-v-italy-judgment/ |
| ↑65 | Lorenzo Tondo,“ ‘Disgraceful’: Italy’s senate votes down anti-homophobic violence bill”, The Guardian, 27 October 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/27/italy-senate-votes-down-anti-homophobic-violence-bill |
| ↑66 | “Italy didn’t sign EU gay text because mirrors Zan”, ANSA, 17 May 2024, https://www.ansa.it/english/news/politics/2024/05/17/italy-didnt-sign-eu-gay-text-because-mirrors-zan-bill_8d391789-1919-4d62-bb9c-0bb39e2b76f3.html |
| ↑67 | Corte Constituzionale, Sentenza 242/2019, https://www.cortecostituzionale.it/actionSchedaPronuncia.do?anno=2019&numero=242 |
| ↑68 | Codice Penale, Articolo 403, “Offese a una confessione religiosa mediante vilipendio di persone” R.D. 19 ottobre 1930, n. 1398, accessed October 2024, https://www.brocardi.it/codice-penale/libro-secondo/titolo-iv/capo-i/art403.html?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=articolo&utm_content=nav_art_prec_top |
| ↑69 | Unofficial translation: “(1)Chiunque, in un luogo destinato al culto, o in un luogo pubblico o aperto al pubblico, offendendo una confessione religiosa, vilipende con espressioni ingiuriose cose(2) che formino oggetto di culto, o siano consacrate al culto, o siano destinate necessariamente all’esercizio del culto [….] Chiunque pubblicamente e intenzionalmente distrugge, disperde, deteriora, rende inservibili o imbratta cose che formino oggetto di culto o siano consacrate al culto o siano destinate necessariamente all’esercizio del culto”. Codice Penale, Articolo 404, “Offese a una confessione religiosa mediante vilipendio o danneggiamento di cose”, R.D. 19 ottobre 1930, n. 1398, accessed October 2024, https://www.brocardi.it/codice-penale/libro-secondo/titolo-iv/capo-i/art404.html |
| ↑70 | James Imam, “ ‘Blasphemous’ painting of Jesus slashed, artist attacked at exhibition in Italian church” The Art Newspaper, 29 March 2024, https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2024/03/29/jesus-oral-sex-painting-andrea-saltini-slashed-knife-attack; Tessa Solomon, “‘Blasphemous’ Christ Painting Vandalized, Artist Attacked at Exhibition in Former Italian Church”, ARTNews, 1 April 2024, https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/blasphemous-christ-painting-vandalized-artist-attacked-italy-1234701505/; “Intervista al Vescovo Castellucci sugli atti violenti al Museo diocesano”, Diocesi di Capri, 29 March 2024, https://diocesicarpi.it/intervista-al-vescovo-castellucci-sugli-atti-violenti-al-museo-diocesano/ |
| ↑71 | Angela Giuffrida,“Catholics’ fury as Italian TV ad depicts nuns eating crisps for communion”, The Guardian, 9 April 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/09/catholics-fury-as-italian-tv-ad-amica-chips-depicts-nuns-eating-crisps-as-altar-bread; Simon Caldwell, “Italian regulator pulls ‘blasphemous’ crisps advert from the airwaves”, Catholic Herald, 12 April 2024, https://catholicherald.co.uk/italian-regulator-pulls-blasphemous-crisps-advert-from-the-airwaves/ |
| ↑72 | Hannah Brockhaus, “ Leading soccer goalkeeper in Italy faces penalty for blaspheming”, Catholic News Agency, 27 January 2021 https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/246265/leading-soccer-goalkeeper-in-italy-faces-penalty-for-blaspheming; “Lazio’s Lazzari latest Serie A player banned for blasphemy”, France 24, 16 February 2021, https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210216-lazio-s-lazzari-latest-serie-a-player-banned-for-blasphemy; “Frosinone goalkeeper Turati given one-match blasphemy ban”, The Score, accessed October 2024, https://www.thescore.com/seri/news/2696971 |
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