Religion in Italy

Religion in Italy has a rich and long history, shaped mostly by the Catholic Church, which is the biggest part of Christianity. This connection dates back many years and is strong because of Rome's special role. The Vatican, where the Pope lives, is located inside Italy, making the country very important to many Christians around the world.

Italy is home to many of the world's largest oldest churches. In this picture, the Florence Cathedral, which has the largest brick dome in the world.

In recent years, Italy has seen more kinds of religions because of people moving in from other places. Today, besides Catholics, there are communities of Muslims, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Protestants, Buddhists, Hindus, and Jews. This mixing of beliefs makes the religious life in Italy more varied and interesting. Even though many people still identify as Catholic, a growing number say they have no religion, showing how views are changing over time.

Overview

Pisa Cathedral, a notable example of Romanesque architecture, in particular the style known as Pisan Romanesque

The 2012 Global Religious Landscape survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that most people in Italy were Christians, with many also not having any religious beliefs. By 2016, around 82% of Italy’s people were linked to the Catholic Church. More recent surveys show this number has dropped a bit, with about 68% of people in Italy identifying as Christian today.

Italy has a special connection to the Catholic Church because the Pope, its leader, lives in Vatican City, a small area inside Rome. Many important Catholic groups also have their main offices in Rome. Besides Catholics, Italy has many other religious groups now, including Muslims, Orthodox Christians, Protestants, Buddhists, and Hindus, mostly because of people moving to Italy from other countries.

Demography

The religious makeup of Italy's people in 2023 shows that most Italians are Catholic Christians. This number comes from surveys and data from groups that study religion.

Because it's hard to get exact numbers, these figures are just estimates. The table below includes many groups, even some without complete data.

Religion / denomination	Italian citizens		Foreign residents		Total population
Religion / denomination		members	%	members	%	members	%
Christianity	44,032,500	81.6	2,427,000	48.2	46,459,000	78.7
Catholicism	42,741,000	79.2	830,000	16.5	43,571,000	73.9
Latin Catholic Church	N/A
Eastern Catholic Churches	N/A
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church – Apostolic Exarchate	N/A				69,000	0.1
Italo-Albanian Catholic Church	N/A				56,000	0.1
Romanian Greek Catholic Church	N/A
Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy	445,000	0.8	1,349,000	26.8	1,794,00	3.0
Romanian Orthodox Church – Diocese of Italy	N/A				1,000,000	1.7
Russian Orthodox Church (incl. Patriarchal parishes)	N/A				250,000	0.4
Greek Orthodox Church – Archdiocese of Italy	N/A				150,000	0.3
Orthodox Church of Ukraine	N/A
Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)	N/A
Coptic Orthodox Church	N/A				40,000	0.1
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church	N/A
Serbian Orthodox Church	N/A				15,000	0.0
Bulgarian Orthodox Church	N/A				3,000	0.0
Armenian Apostolic Church	N/A
Orthodox Church in Italy	N/A
Protestantism	366,000	0.7	214,000	4.3	580,000	1.0
Pentecostalism	250,000	0.5	N/A
Assemblies of God in Italy	120,000	0.2	N/A
Federation of Pentecostal Churches	50,000	0.1	N/A
Apostolic Church in Italy	10,000	0.0	N/A
Historical Protestantism (Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy)	61,000	0.1	N/A
Waldensian Evangelical Church	30,000	0.1	N/A
Baptist Evangelical Christian Union of Italy	15,000	0.0	N/A
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Italy	7,000	0.0	N/A
Methodist Evangelical Church in Italy	5,000	0.0	N/A
Others (including Presbyterians and The Salvation Army)	3,000	0.0	N/A
African Pentecostalism and African-initiated churches	N/A
Anglican Communion	N/A
Church of Nigeria	N/A
Association "Church of England"	N/A
Evangelical Christian Church of the Brethren	19,000	0.0	N/A
Adventism	18,000	0.0	N/A
Italian Union of Seventh-day Adventist Christian Churches	N/A				9,500	0.0
Restoration Movement	5,500	0.0	N/A
Nondenominational Christianity and other Protestants	12,500	0.0	N/A
Jehovah's Witnesses	414,000	0.8	34,000	0.7	514,500	0.9
Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses in Italy	250,000	0.5
Mormonism	28,500	0.1
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Italy	29,000	0.1
Independent Catholicism	26,000	0.0
Other Christians	12,000	0.0
Islam	566,000	1.0	1,719,000	34.2	2,285,000	3.9
Sunni Islam	N/A
Union of Islamic Communities and Organisations in Italy	N/A
Italian Islamic Religious Community	N/A
Italian Islamic Confederation	N/A
Shia Islam	N/A
Buddhism	218,000	0.4	140,000	2.8	358,000	0.6
Soka Gakkai Italian Buddhist Institute	N/A				75,000	0.1
Italian Buddhist Union	N/A				61,000	0.1
Hinduism	57,000	0.1	166,000	3.3	223,000	0.4
Italian Hindu Union	N/A
Sikhism	25,000	0.0	62,000	1.2	106,500	0.2
Other Asian religions	19,500	0.0	62,000	1.2	106,500	0.2
Judaism	36,000	0.1	4,000	0.1	40,000	0.1
Union of Italian Jewish Communities	25,000	0.0	N/A
Other religions	84,000	0.2	177,000	3.5	261,000	0.4
No religion	8,928,000	16.5	336,000	6.7	9,264,500	15.7
Totals	53,966,485	100.0	5,030,716	100.0	58,997,201	100.0

Religious practice

Attendance at a place of worship at least once a week per region

In Italy, many people still go to church compared to other countries in Western Europe. A survey in 2017 found that 58% of Italians think religion is important to them. Italy had more people who practice their religion than those who do not, which is unusual for Europe. However, the number of people who practice their religion has been going down since 2001.

Only about 19% of Italians say they regularly practice their religion, according to official data. This means fewer people are going to church as often as before. In 2015, about 29% of people went to a place of worship every week. Some parts of Italy, like Southern Italy, had more people going to church than others. Places such as Sicily and Campania had higher numbers, while areas like Liguria and Tuscany had fewer people attending services.

Religion and politics

Further information: List of Italian religious minority politicians

The capture of Rome occurred on 20 September 1870, as forces of the Kingdom of Italy took control of the city and of the Papal States. After a plebiscite held on 2 October 1870, Rome was officially made capital of Italy on 3 February 1871, completing the unification of Italy (Risorgimento).

After Italy became one country, most Catholics stayed out of politics. The main political groups were not based on religion until the early 1900s.

In 1905, a group called the Italian Catholic Electoral Union was created to help Catholic voters. In 1913, it joined with the Liberal party. After World War I, Catholics started the Italian People's Party.

During the time of Fascist rule in Italy, an agreement called the Lateran Treaty was made in 1929 between the Italian government and the Vatican. This created Vatican City as its own country.

After World War II, a new party called Christian Democracy was formed. It was inspired by Catholic ideas but was not officially a religious party. This party was very important in Italian politics for many years. Different religious groups, including Waldensians and Jews, have also been active in various political parties in Italy.

Overview

Demography

Religious practice

Religion and politics

Freedom of religion

Images

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