The Importance Of Religion In Italy

Every nation no matter the size or differences in cultures are all very similar. They are all similar because structurally very similar things are required to build and maintain any country or nation. Such things as government, religion, culture, economy, and education among other things are crucial for a nation to strive and for the people in that society to a good safe lifestyle. All of the vast countries all over the world go about this in different ways. Based on what the people who built and maintained the nation decided on. Of course over time as the times change and the people in power change, the nation changes and evolves. Sometimes for the better, and sometimes for the worse. The economy may go through a period of recession or

Religion is something that people all over the world have fought wars for. Whether that religion be Judaism, Christianity, or many other diverse religions. Many people have fought and died for their religion as it gives them something to believe in passed the world we know and live in. For Italy it is Christianity as 88 percent of the population belong to the Roman Catholic Church, even though only around one third of these people consider themselves “active” in their religion (“Religion in Italy : A Christian country”). Although such a large percentage of the people are Christian that doesn’t mean that other religions don’t have prominence in Italy. In fact there are around one million Muslims, seven hundred thousand Eastern Orthodox Christians, five hundred fifty thousand evangelical Protestants, two hundred thirty five thousand Jehovah’s Witnesses, forty five thousand Jewish people, and many other smaller religions (“Religion in Italy : A Christian country”). Despite the vast majority of people practicing Christianity in Italy all of these religions thrive. Most importantly though freedom of religion is guaranteed under the Italian constitution, besides extreme sects (“Religion in Italy: A Christian country”). The most important building for religion in Italy is the Vatican. The Vatican is home to the government of the Roman Catholic Church as well as the home to the Pope who is the spiritual leader of the church (“Religion in Italy: A Christian country”). The Vatican has its own post office, newspaper, radio, and television stations (“Religion in Italy: A Christian country”). There has been close relations between the church and the state which influences the politics and society of Italy (“Religion in Italy: A Christian country”). Out of all the major countries in the world Italy may have the closest relationship between church and state.