In Italy, religions have the right to exist and operate within the State, with the limits established by the Constitution. This is strictly connected with the autonomy of religions to self-organize themselves according to their own statutes, regardless of the presence of an intesa (which can be roughly translated “understanding”) according to article 8 (paragraph 3) of the Italian Constitution. This means that the absence of an intesa does not infer the absence of relations between minority confessions and the Italian State. The large number of confessions other than Catholicism present and operating on Italian territory that do not have an understanding the best illustrations of that axiom. These groups enter into contact with the State legal system by taking into account unilateral legislations, starting with constitutional ones; the bilateral legislations (those resulting from the understanding between state and confessions) are the instruments specifically provided to regulate relations with the Confessions and their specific needs. The implementation of these legislations, however, is inevitably limited and never exhaustive, relating only to the series of relationships on which there is a convergence of interest between confessions and the State. This highlights the importance of a general law regulating religious matters – which is absent at the moment – in the light of the principio supremo di laicità (supreme principle of secularity), which implies the rights of religious freedom, in individual and collective sense of the expression.
Il sistema delle intese e la (futura) legge sulla libertà religiosa
Alicino
2024-01-01
Abstract
In Italy, religions have the right to exist and operate within the State, with the limits established by the Constitution. This is strictly connected with the autonomy of religions to self-organize themselves according to their own statutes, regardless of the presence of an intesa (which can be roughly translated “understanding”) according to article 8 (paragraph 3) of the Italian Constitution. This means that the absence of an intesa does not infer the absence of relations between minority confessions and the Italian State. The large number of confessions other than Catholicism present and operating on Italian territory that do not have an understanding the best illustrations of that axiom. These groups enter into contact with the State legal system by taking into account unilateral legislations, starting with constitutional ones; the bilateral legislations (those resulting from the understanding between state and confessions) are the instruments specifically provided to regulate relations with the Confessions and their specific needs. The implementation of these legislations, however, is inevitably limited and never exhaustive, relating only to the series of relationships on which there is a convergence of interest between confessions and the State. This highlights the importance of a general law regulating religious matters – which is absent at the moment – in the light of the principio supremo di laicità (supreme principle of secularity), which implies the rights of religious freedom, in individual and collective sense of the expression.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
