Notizie

Fondo Edifici di Culto

26.05.2004

Religions and the State

Through the Central Directorate for religions, as part of the Department for civil liberties and immigration, the Ministry of the Interior entertains relations with the authorities of the Roman Catholic Church as well as of other confessions. It studies and monitors Catholic bodies and organisations, which are granted legal personality by the Ministry itself. It is now carrying out a project aimed at identifying and cataloguing the large number of confraternities active all over the country.
The Ministry grants legal status to religious bodies and organisations other than the Catholic ones, active throughout the national territory.
It endorses the appointments of ministers of religions other than the Catholic ones, to enable them to perform acts that are legally binding according to national legislation (e.g. officiating at weddings).
Ministers of religions are granted permissions to assist convicts by the Ministry.
It gives advice to embassies in view of the issuing of entry visas to Italy to foreign ministers of religions.
It constantly monitors religious activities other than the Catholic ones carried out on the national territory, with a view to both finding a solution to the problems met up with by public administrations and acting as a reference point for the reporting of violations of the freedom of religion.

The Central Directorate for religions includes two areas respectively dealing with the following:
· Roman Catholic religion
· Religions other than the Roman Catholic one, practiced in Italy