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Religion and Civil Society in Italy and in Other Latin Countries

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Religion and Civil Society in Europe

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Abstract

In all the countries of the Southern Europe, the Catholicism plays a more prominent role – more than in North-Central European nations where Catholic culture is still important – in the public sphere, which is revealed by renewed involvement of lay believers in various sectors of civil society. Everywhere, Catholic groups and movements are in the forefront of social-assistance voluntarism, on the educational level, concerning the social and ethical issues. In this scenario, Italy stands out as a peculiar case with both the strong presence of the Church on the public scene and the deep involvement of faith-based associations in the numerous areas of the society. In some countries, such as Italy and Spain, the church’s presence seems more aggressive and tenacious, while in Portugal, it appears to favour a more open presence and dialogue with society. These are different strategies for the prevailing religion to husband its heritage of symbolic resources and sense, in countries, which are experiencing the processes of secularisation and laicisation typical of advanced modernity.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    On these issues, see also the debate and the recent studies on the role of civil societies in countries where the democracy process is at the beginning, e.g. the Arab spring: Bozzo and Luizard (2011), Kepel and Luizard (2011) and Kilani (2011).

  2. 2.

    On this issue, a recent research was carried out by Sciolla (2004).

  3. 3.

    On the characteristics and relevance of the third sector in Italy and on its role in the civil society; see: Zamagni (2011), Silvano (2011), Donati and Colozzi (2002) and Cesareo (2003).

  4. 4.

    This and other data refer to a survey on the religiosity carried out in 2007 on a sample of the Italian population (3,160 cases) aged 16–74 (Garelli 2011). The last survey of the ‘European Value Survey’ carried out in Italy in 2008 (forthcoming) reaches the same conclusions.

  5. 5.

    Further information about the role of socialisation and promoting public participation played by religious environments are available in Wuthnow (1996).

  6. 6.

    Art.1, Statute Caritas Italiana.

  7. 7.

    A system whereby eight thousandths of the income tax a citizen must pay can be directed, according to individual choice, to a selection of religious bodies in order to help sustain them financially.

  8. 8.

    Interesting descriptions on various Catholic European countries have been drawn in recent research promoted by the Groupe Européen de Recherche Interdisciplinaire sur le Changement Religieux, directed and coordinated by Alfonso Pérez-Agote (University of Madrid), with the participation of Liliane Voyé and Karel Dobbelaere (Belgium); Alfonso Pérez-Agote, Jose Santiago, Antonio Ariño, Ana Aliende and Ana Núñez (Spain); Céline Béraud, Denis Pelletier and Philippe Portier (France); Franco Garelli, Enzo Pace and Annalisa Frisina (Italy); and Helena Vilaça and Maria João Oliveira (Portugal). See Pérez-Agote (2012) for the three case studies presented in this chapter.

  9. 9.

    As well as in other national contexts, also in Southern European countries, national cultures and geographical areas differ deeply in both the role and the social relevance of religion. See Halman et al. (2005) and Norris and Inglehart (2004).

  10. 10.

    Pérez-Agote et al. (2012: 92) write on this issue: ‘on doit d’abord noter le manque d’enracinement d’un parti démocrate-chrétien en Espagne, qui aurait pu assurer la présence des catholiques dans la vie politique.’

  11. 11.

    Focussing on a recent survey, Pérez-Agote et al. (2012: 95) state ‘que la participation citoyenne des catholiques dans des associations religieuses est plutôt faible: en 2002, 6.9 % seulement des Espagnols font partie d’une association à caractère religieux (…) Ajoutons que, selon le même sondage, il existe un faible degré de confiance de la part de la société espagnole envers ce genre d’associations à caractère religieux.’

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cultures, Politics and Society, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

    Franco Garelli

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  1. Franco Garelli
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Correspondence to Franco Garelli .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Netherl. Inst. for Soc. Res. (SCP), Parnassusplein 5, The Hague, 2511VX, Netherlands

    Joep de Hart

  2. , Institute for Social Research (SCP), Tilburg University, Warandelaan 2, Tilburg, 5037AB, Netherlands

    Paul Dekker

  3. Department of Sociology, Tilburg University, Postbus 90153, Tilburg, 5000 LE, Netherlands

    Loek Halman

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Garelli, F. (2013). Religion and Civil Society in Italy and in Other Latin Countries. In: de Hart, J., Dekker, P., Halman, L. (eds) Religion and Civil Society in Europe. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6815-4_7

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