Religious congregations in Italy: Mapping the new pluralism

Abstract

This paper deals with the increasing religious diversity of Italy. The Italian religious landscape is a good example of how, and to what extent, a society historically monopolized by Catholicism is being transformed exogenously by unprecedented and unexpected religions. Mapping the new places of worship - belonging respectively to Islam, Orthodox Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Neo-Pentecostalism-, the author focuses on the impact of the new cultural and religious geography both on the self-representation of the Catholic Church as a pivotal belief system in the public sphere and on its traditionally privileged position, still essentially unchanged by political factors.