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Religions 2013, 4(1), 1-13; doi:10.3390/rel4010001

Article

Flexible Catholicism, Religion and the Church: The Italian Case

Franco Garelli

Department of Cultures, Politics and Society, University of Turin, Via S. Ottavio, 50 - 10124, Turin, Italy

Received: 14 November 2012; in revised form: 13 December 2012 / Accepted: 14 December 2012 / Published: 21 December 2012

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Work on Catholicism)

Download PDF Full-Text [65 KB, uploaded 21 December 2012 15:42 CET]

Abstract: What is taking place in the religious field in some Western societies not only seems to reflect a crisis situation or irreversible decline in the church and dominant religious institutions. More than might be imagined, advanced modernity offers opportunities for traditional religions, even within a context fraught with contradictions and ambivalence. An example of this is represented by Italy, which is still today characterized by widespread affiliation to Catholicism, despite the increase in religious pluralism and undisputed secularization in the customs of the population. Comparing surveys carried out in 1994 and 2007 on a sample of the Italian population, the paper presents a version of religious modernity that has emerged both on the individual religious front and in the way religion is considered in the public sphere.

Keywords: Catholicism; Italy; beliefs; religious belonging; church

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