The Influences of Religion on Italy

1302 Words3 Pages

Italy

Italy is an European country. Italian is its official language, and 93% of the population is native Italian speakers. Its ethnic background includes small clusters of German-Italians, French-Italians, Slovene-Italians, Albanian-Italians, and Greek-Italians. With various clusters of people come various beliefs in religion. Religion has influenced the culture, artists, and national treasures of Italy in various ways.

Culture is one aspect of Italy that is highly influenced by religion. Religion was part of the state constitution. The people of Italy are Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim. The Muslim community is still continuing to grow. The Jews, Muslim, Orthodox, or Eastern Rite Catholics make up about 2% of the population. The Roman Catholic community accounts for majority of Italy. There are more Catholic churches for individuals in Italy than any other country. Rome and the Vatican City alone are filled with thousands of shrines, relics, and churches. Church attendance is quite low, but the influence of the church is still high. Many office buildings contain a cross or religious statue in the lobby. The church sets forth hierarchy, which can be seen in all of Italian’s relationships. People in Italy respect their elders, those who achieved business success, and people from well-connected families. Each day of the year has at least one patron St. associated with it. Even trades and professions have a patron saint. Children are named for a particular saint, and they celebrate their Saint’s day just like it was their own birthday. In 1884, an agreement was made between the Italian Republic and the Vatican, which would be modified by the Lateran Concorde of 1929, and ratified into a new law in 1985. It s...

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