Religion Italian Style Continuities and Changes in a Catholic Country - Garelli, Franco (Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 2014)
Includes bibliographical references and index
Introduction -- 1. From Certain to Uncertain Faith -- 2. Religious Experience and Religious Life -- 3. Highs and Lows of Religious Experience -- 4. Italians and the Church: Near and Far -- 5. The God of Small Things? Between Catholicism and Alternative Spiritualities -- 6. The Italian Approach to a Secular Society -- 7. Religiosity in Politics and in Ethics -- 8. An Increasingly Plural Divinity -- Methodological Appendix
This book argues that the relationship between religion and society in Italy has unique characteristics when compared with what is happening in other European Catholic Countries. Exploring key topics and religious trends which question how the population feel - from the laity and the role of religions in the public sphere, to moral debates, forms of religious pluralism, and new spiritualities - Garelli questions how intricately religion is interwoven with the nation's fabric and the dynamics of the whole society