LEGAL FRAMEWORK

The constitution states all citizens are equal before the law regardless of religion and are free to profess their beliefs in any form, individually or with others, and to promote and celebrate rites in public or in private, provided they are not offensive to public morality. According to the constitution, each religious community has the right to establish its own institutions according to its own statutes if these do not conflict with the law. The constitution stipulates the state may not impose special limitations or taxes on the establishment or activities of groups because of their religious nature or aims. The constitution specifies the state and the Catholic Church are independent of each other, and that treaties, including a concordat between the government and the Holy See, govern their relations.

The country’s penal code contains an unenforced article on blasphemy, classifying public insults against religions or against religious followers as administrative offenses punishable by a fine ranging from €51 to €309 ($56 to $340). The penal code punishes other public offenses related to religion, including offenses against objects used for religious rites or offenses expressed during religious ceremonies, with a fine of up to €5,000 ($5,500) or a prison sentence of up to two years. Those who destroy or violate objects used for religious ceremonies may be punished with up to two years in prison.

The constitution states all religious groups are equally free, and relations between the state and non-Catholic groups regarding state support are governed by agreements (“accords”) between them. Relations between the state and the Catholic Church are governed by a concordat between the government and the Holy See. Representatives of a non-Catholic faith requesting an accord must first submit their request to the Prime Minister’s Office. The government and the group’s representatives then negotiate a draft agreement, which the Council of Ministers must approve. The Prime Minister then signs and submits the agreement to parliament for final approval. Thirteen groups have an accord: the Confederation of Methodist and Waldensian Churches, Seventh-day Adventists, Assemblies of God, Jews, Baptists, Lutherans, the Church of Jesus Christ, the Orthodox Church of the Constantinople Patriarchate, the Italian Apostolic Church, the Buddhist Union, Soka Gakkai Buddhists, Hindus, and the Anglican Church.

The law provides religious groups with tax-exempt status and the right to recognition as legal entities once they have completed the registration process with the MOI. Legal registration is a prerequisite for any group seeking an accord with the government. A religious group may apply for registration by submitting an official request to a prefect (the local MOI representative) that includes the group’s statutes, a report on its goals and activities, information on its administrative offices, a three-year budget, certification of its credit status by a bank, and certification of the Italian citizenship or legal residency of its head. To be approved, a group’s statutes must not conflict with the law. Once approved, the group must submit to MOI administrative monitoring, including oversight of its budget and internal organization. The MOI may appoint a commissioner to administer the group if it identifies irregularities in its activities. Religious groups that are not registered may still operate legally as cultural associations and obtain tax-exempt status, legal recognition of marriages, access to hospitals and prisons, and other benefits, but those benefits are more easily obtained if a group has an accord with the government. The Catholic Church is the only legally recognized group exempted from MOI monitoring, in accordance with the concordat between the government and the Holy See. An accord also allows a religious group to receive funds collected by the state through a voluntary 0.8 percent of personal income tax set-aside on taxpayer returns. Taxpayers may specify to which eligible religious group they would like to direct these funds. National law does not restrict religious face coverings, but some local authorities impose restrictions. Regional laws in Liguria, Veneto, and Lombardy prohibit the wearing of burqas and niqabs in public buildings and institutions, including hospitals.

The concordat with the Holy See provides for the Catholic Church to participate in the selection of teachers, paid by the state, who provide instruction in weekly “hour of religion” courses taught in public schools. The courses are optional, and students who do not wish to attend may study other subjects, or in certain cases, leave school early with parental consent. Church-selected instructors are lay or clergy members or members of religious orders, and lessons include material selected by the state and relevant to both Catholics and non-Catholic religious groups; texts do not require approval by the Catholic Church. Government funding is available for only these Catholic Church-approved teachers. If a student requests a religion class from a non-Catholic religious group, that group must provide the teacher and cover the cost of instruction; it is not required to seek government approval for the content of the class. Some local laws provide scholarship funding for students to attend private, religiously affiliated schools, usually Catholic, that meet government educational standards.

Schools are categorized as state-owned, state-equivalent, or private. The “state-equivalent” category includes public (municipal, provincial, regional, or owned by another public entity) and some private schools, which may be religiously affiliated. All state-equivalent schools receive government funding if they meet criteria and standards published every year by the Ministry of Education. The funding is released through the ministry’s regional offices. Religious entities operate most private schools and may issue diplomas or certificates, which the government recognizes in most cases. Private school students must take final annual exams in state-owned or state-equivalent schools.

A 2019 Lombardy regional law prohibits local authorities from dividing burial plots by religious belief, although authorities have at times made exceptions.

According to law, hate speech, including instances motivated by religious hatred, is punishable by up to four years in prison. This law also applies to denial of genocide or crimes against humanity.

All missionaries and other foreign religious workers from countries that are not EU members or signatories of the Schengen Agreement must apply with the MOI for special religious activity visas before arriving in the country. An applicant must attach an invitation letter from his or her religious group to the application. Eligible applicants are those who have already received priestly ordination, or equivalent status, as well as religious ministers belonging to denominational organizations already registered with the MOI, and who intend to participate in religious ceremonies or events or ecclesiastical, religious, or pastoral activities. Visa duration varies based on the request of the religious organization.

The country is party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

GOVERNMENT PRACTICES

Abuses Involving Violence, Detention, or Mass Resettlement

According to the MOI, between January and July, the government expelled 35 individuals due to what the ministry stated were concerns for the security of the country, including individuals who the ministry stated advocated violent, extremist beliefs and/or made efforts to radicalize others. On November 6, authorities expelled a Moroccan national who had broken three crosses in two churches in Alessandria and whom they considered close to radical networks.

Abuses Limiting Religious Belief and Expression

According to media reports, on April 7, police identified – and authorities subsequently fined – a group of youths who shouted profanities at a Catholic Good Friday religious procession of the Virgin Mary in Pontecorvo, Lazio.

Abuses Involving the Ability of Individuals to Engage in Religious Activities Alone or In Community with Others

According to leaders of the Islamic Cultural Center of Italy, the government again did not make significant progress on reaching an accord with the Muslim community, despite continuing dialogue with various Islamic religious entities. The MOI continued to recognize only the Islamic Cultural Center of Italy, which administers the Great Mosque of Rome, as a legal religious entity, a prerequisite to signing an accord, but by year’s end, it had not signed one. The government recognized other Islamic groups as nonprofit organizations.

The Senate Extraordinary Committee to Fight Intolerance, Antisemitism, and Hate Crimes continued to consult experts on the nature and the root causes of hate speech, with results of the committee’s fact-finding investigation of intolerance, racism, antisemitism, and incitement to hatred and violence, expected for release in 2024.

Abuses Involving Discrimination or Unequal Treatment

National leaders of the larger Islamic organizations said an apparent effect of the lack of a formal agreement between the government and any Muslim group is a proportionally small number of formally recognized mosques, representing a challenge for locating adequate worship spaces for the country’s more than 2.3 million Muslims. They said a lack of a national central body representing a majority of the country’s Muslims could also be a factor.

Regional governments and Muslim religious authorities continued to recognize eight mosques, respectively, in Colle Val d’Elsa, Albenga, Milan, Rome, Ravenna, Forli, Palermo and Catania. In addition, local governments continued to recognize many other sites as Islamic places of worship, although some Muslim authorities said these were not full-fledged mosques because they lacked minarets or other key architectural features such as domes.

According to local media, there were also an estimated 800 to 1,200 unofficial, informal places of worship for Muslims in 2019 (the most recent figure). According to press reports, authorities allowed most to operate but did not officially recognize them as places of worship.

Media outlets reported that on August 29, the city of Milan provided a Muslim community with a public building for use as a mosque with a capacity of 3,500, including plans for a cultural association, a garden, and areas dedicated to women and children. The opening was scheduled for April 2024.

Muslim leaders stated they continued to experience difficulties in obtaining approvals from some local governments to construct mosques. Some local officials continued to cite a lack of zoning plans allowing for the establishment of places of worship on specific sites as a reason for denying construction permits, rather than anti-Muslim sentiment.

In other locations, Muslim groups continued to acquire new spaces for worship. On May 13, Mayor of Florence Dario Nardella announced the selection of a facility that will host a permanent mosque. Archbishop of Florence Giuseppe Betori said “the [Catholic] Church shares in the joy of this positive outcome, which responds to a primary need of human beings and the right of every community to freely profess its religious faith.” On September 26, the owner of the previous facility used as a place of worship extended the group’s occupancy to May 9, 2024, which gave them a space for worship until the new mosque opened.

On September 16, the Italian Islamic Confederation, the mayor, and representatives of other religious groups inaugurated a new mosque in Pinerolo (Piedmont).

On August 4, the municipality of Alessandria approved a 92-year lease for a parcel of land to the local Muslim association to build a new mosque. Opposition parties contested the terms of the lease, stating the rent was too low given the value of the property.

In June, Mayor of San Dona Alberto Teso, in the province of Venice, met with a delegation of six representatives of local Muslim groups to discuss the opening of a new mosque to accommodate the growing local Muslim community. The mayor assured full cooperation of local authorities to process the request for authorization to open a new place of worship.

On May 15, the municipality of Mestre blocked conversion of a former supermarket into an Islamic cultural center and mosque following local opposition. Residents opposed to the center said it was noisy and did not have authorization to use the space for religious services. The Muslim community appealed the measure, and in August, the regional administrative court suspended the decision of the municipality, thereby allowing followers to use the facility as a place of worship.

On June 10, the Chamber of Deputies began debate on a bill – introduced by members of parliament from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy Party – that would prohibit religious communities without an accord with the government from using their own or rented properties, including garages and industrial warehouses, for religious activities. In an October 10 parliamentary hearing, representatives of Muslim and Christian communities said the policy would be discriminatory and violate the constitutional right to religious freedom. Opposition lawmakers were against the initiative, stating that if the law passed, it would restrict religious freedom and violate constitutional principles.

Local governments continued to lease public land at discounted rates to non-Muslim religious groups, predominantly Catholic, to construct places of worship. The government also provided funds toward preservation and maintenance of historic places of worship, which were almost all Catholic, with some prominent exceptions such as the Jewish ghetto in Venice.

According to the UCOII, 76 local governments maintained dedicated burial spaces for Muslims. Muslim associations reported a continued insufficient number of burial plots to meet the needs of Muslim communities in Lombardy, Lazio, and other regions, prompting many immigrant families to bury the remains of their relatives in their countries of origin.

On March 4, UCOII appealed to all municipalities with Islamic cemeteries to authorize burial of Muslim migrants who died in the February 26 shipwreck near Cutro, which claimed more than 90 lives.

Pastor Leonardo Chirico of Breccia di Roma Church, an evangelical church in Rome, reported that on May 26, the tax authority appealed to the Court of Cassation against the tax exemption granted to the religious group by another Rome court on the grounds that the facility did not have the architectural features of a traditional church. Chirico said the church spent €12,000 ($13,200) in legal fees to defend its right to tax-exempt status. He also said “the zoning regulations were costly and unfair for religious minorities.”

In March in Viterbo, authorities discovered a swastika and antisemitic graffiti targeting Elly Schlein, the newly elected secretary of the Democratic Party. Authorities promptly removed the graffiti. Prime Minister Meloni called the episode “a shameful and indecent act.” Representatives of all political parties in parliament expressed solidarity with Schlein.

In August, the Ministry of Defense removed General Roberto Vannacci from his military post two weeks after the release of his self-published book The World Upside Down. In the book, Vannacci wrote, “The Holocaust occurred, but this does not qualify the Jewish religion for protection.” In December, Vannacci was assigned to a new position.

On August 29, Marcello De Angelis, spokesperson of Lazio Regional President Francesco Rocca of the FdI Party, resigned as a result of statements reported by press that in 1995 De Angelis authored an antisemitic song – which he later disavowed – with lyrics referring to Jews as “a dominating race of merchants, [and] if with gold they bought my home and my land, my freedom is paid with blood!” among other antisemitic phrases. President of the Jewish Community of Rome Victor Fadlun commented in a social media post, “We repudiate the cliches of antisemitism and the shameful distortions of historical truth.” De Angelis replied, “The lyrics go back to a period of my life in which I do not recognize myself. I feel embarrassment and horror as they can still cause offense and suffering today. Unfortunately, I cannot go back and erase the past. I can only strive every day to repair it.”

On July 23, Monfalcone Mayor Anna Cisint, a member of the Lega Party, said the decision of Muslim women to swim fully covered was “unacceptable behavior.” She released a public statement saying, “Those who come from different communities have an obligation to respect the rules and customs that apply in the local and Italian context,” and added, “Practices of dubious value for decorum and hygiene overturn every rule of social coexistence.”

The European Jewish Congress reported that Milan police charged 24 persons on January 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, for posting antisemitic online attacks, including death threats, against Senator-for-Life Liliana Segre, a Holocaust survivor. Those charged included celebrity chef Gabriele Rubini. Rubini accused Segre of “a deafening silence over the plight of Palestine,” and called Israel a “fascist” state. Segre had reported the online threats and insults to authorities in December 2022.

Speaking at an emergency summit on global antisemitism at the parliament in November, then national coordinator for the fight against antisemitism Giuseppe Pecoraro said, “October 7 changed everything,” adding that where once there were “isolated episodes,” he now sees a unified “antisemitic phenomenon.”

On January 27, Holocaust Remembrance Day, President Sergio Mattarella hosted a ceremony to commemorate the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

According to media reports, on June 29, police searched the homes of 10 members of neo-Nazi groups based in Naples and Salerno suspected of distributing propaganda and incitement to commit racial, ethnic, and religious discrimination.

On March 10, Prime Minister Meloni met Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and reiterated her government’s commitment to fight antisemitism.

In March, the government announced a grant of €10 million ($11 million) for establishing a Holocaust museum in Rome – a city in which the Axis powers detained 1,024 Jews during World War II and deported them to concentration camps. In October, parliament approved the allocation.

The city government of Rome continued public expressions of support for collaboration and understanding through support of the interreligious roundtable (Tavolo Interreligioso) interfaith network, which includes the Jewish community, the Waldensian Evangelical Church, the Eastern Orthodox communities, the Islamic Cultural Center of Italy, the Italian Hindu Union, and the Italian Buddhist Maitreya Foundation. In May, the group held a seminar on the right to conduct funerals consistent with the culture and religion of each citizen.

The government is a member of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

Other Developments Affecting Religious Freedom

On June 26, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, Minister for Sports and Youth Andrea Abodi, then national coordinator for the fight against antisemitism Pecoraro, and Italian Soccer Federation president Gabriele Gravina signed a memorandum of understanding on preventing and fighting antisemitism in sports. The memorandum banned antisemitic symbols and slogans in stadiums, encouraged initiatives aimed at fighting antisemitism, and proposed strengthening penalties for antisemitic incidents to include imprisonment from six months to two years, with an additional eight months if they involve the selling of fascist or Nazi memorabilia online. On July 20, Pecoraro met representatives of police and governmental agencies responsible for collecting data on antisemitism to coordinate monitoring and evaluate trends.

On November 23, parliament hosted an international emergency summit on global antisemitism. At the summit, Israeli Ambassador Alon Bar said that, while the country’s Muslim population did not seem to fear self-identifying or wearing religious symbols or publicly supporting Hamas, the Jewish population was taking care to go unnoticed due to fear of attack.

On December 5, the Italian and Roman Jewish Communities organized a “No antisemitism, no terrorism” rally in Rome. Israeli President Isaac Herzog opened with a video message of encouragement. Leaders of major political parties attended, as did senior government ministers. An empty highchair stood at one corner of the stage – an homage to Israeli children killed or kidnapped by Hamas in the October 7 terrorist attack.

In April, Mayor of Rome Roberto Gualtieri attended an iftar at the Grand Mosque. Gualtieri stated the city council highly valued the active presence of the Islamic Cultural Center and the huge contribution citizens of the Islamic faith make every day to the city of Rome, and added, “Our city is proud to be open, multicultural, and multireligious.”