Italy: Religion, "Catholic Action" and Islam

Most of the faithful Italians profess the Catholic faith. Officially, Catholics are 99.6%, that is, practically the whole of Italy. Religion does not particularly occupy modern Italian citizens: according to statistics, about 15% of the population visits churches.

Country of many religions

In Italy, also live Protestants (about three hundred thousand people from Piedmont), Judaists (thirty-five thousand people, "scattered" throughout the country, are citizens of Rome, Turin, Genoa, Florence, Venice and Livorno).

Despite the fact that the Catholic Church is officially separated from the country, it exerts a much greater influence on the minds of the Italians than the state of Italy. Religion still affects many areas of life of Italians - for good reason there is an independent state Vatican, headed by the pope - the ruler of all the world's Catholic churches.

The international role and authority of the Vatican is just as strong as it was several centuries ago. Being the owner of a powerful radio station and the newspaper Osservatore Romano, the pope successfully leads religious, semi-religious and secular organizations, communities and unions.

The question "What religion in Italy today?" Would puzzle any citizen of the country, regardless of social status and education. In this country there are about 850 kinds of spiritual and other institutions subordinate to the Catholic Church.

"Catholic Action"

The link and curator is an organization called "Catholic Action". The task of the agents of "Catholic Action" is to instruct parents on how to raise children, monitor the literary preferences of Italians and recommend Catholic media and video materials that the church welcomes. One of the duties of the agents of the "Catholic Action" is to obstruct those citizens who set out to join the non-Catholic trade union or decided to take part in the strike.

Religion in Italy now largely depends on the spiritual enlightenment of the Italians themselves. A special role in religious education is played by Catholic priests, most of whom are part-time teachers in secondary schools. The impact of the clergy on village children is especially great.

But not only "Catholic action" is glorious Italy. Religion is certainly important, but one can not overlook the influence of worldly life on the political position of the Vatican. Pope John XXIII, for example, became famous as the first Catholic patriarch in history, who proclaimed the struggle for peace as the most important goal of the church.

I must say that the inhabitants of Italian villages are much more devout than the townspeople. In each village there is a patron saint who is able to ward off certain kinds of calamity from people. St. Paul, for example, neutralizes the bites of poisonous snakes, and St. Lucia treats eye diseases. St. Barbara gives protection from a thunderstorm, and recently even patronizes artillerymen. Archangel Gabriel (the same one who brought the Blessed Virgin to the good news) received the status of patron of radio stations ...

Heavenly "protectors"

Faith in heavenly patrons gave birth to a new custom - to bring to the church "vows" (ex-voto). These small, personally made paintings - a kind of expression of gratitude to the saint for his help. Most often, they draw "miracles" that have already occurred or are about to occur thanks to the miraculous intervention of the patron. Sometimes the role of pictures is played by wax images of the healed parts of the body.

Also of interest is the peasant custom of portraying religious symbols on implements of labor and household items. Crosses, faces of saints and other attributes can be seen on a cot and pottery, on a weaving cane and a pet collar ...

"Islam is flourishing in Italy ..."

Islam and Italy? Religion, professed by the Arab peoples, has really taken root here. In any case, this does not doubt Alessandra Karadzhula - Italian sociologist. This topic is dedicated to her report "Metropolitan Islam".

According to Alessandra's estimates, more than 1.5 million Muslims live in Italy (in Rome and the Roman region, for example, about 100,000 people profess Islam) who came here from all over the world. A woman scientist also reported that only 16% of Italian Muslims were seen at services in official mosques. But the traditional Friday prayer (Muslim religious rite) brings together 40% of Muslims living in Rome and the region.

Strange as it may sound a reference to Islamism, but according to the historical information, Sicily and the south of Italy have a direct relation to Islam. The religion of Muslims, brought here in the 9th century by the Arab conquerors, returns again.

The modern Italian state divides all believers into Catholics and non-Catholics. The second group includes Protestants, Jews and Muslims. Representatives of the listed religious communities have the same rights as Italians professing the Catholic faith.