From the religious standpoint, the Italian case is a good example of how, and to what extent, a symbolically monopolistic system can be transformed exogenously. Using the famous paradox of Achilles and the tortoise attributed to the pre-Socratic philosopher Zeno of Elea (5th century BC), the author analyzes the social changes taking place in Italy from a particular angle, i.e. the passage from a society under a Catholic monopoly to one characterized by an unprecedented and unexpected religious pluralism. The maps illustrating the presence of a number of religions other than that of a typical Italian's birth (Catholicism) show how the country's social and religious geography is changing. Such a change is a major novelty in a country that has always seen itself as Catholic for long-standing historical reasons and also for deeply rooted and still strong cultural motives. Keywords

In many European countries, religion today seems to function as guardian of the collective identity and memory, even as those same societies are becoming more multi-religious. Focusing the analysis on European Catholicism and, particularly, on the new role played by the Catholic Church in the public sphere in two historically Catholic countries — Italy and Spain — the chapter develops the hypothesis that Catholic leaders are accepting the idea that religious power must work more and more as communication. They can longer impose norms, but they can reconstruct a romantic sense of being a society, a collective identity rooted in the Christian pattern of values, projecting unity where there is social, religious, and ideological difference.

The author deals with the following thesis: salvation goods are governed not only by the exchange economy, but also by the gift economy. They have less to do with the logic of social action aimed at profitable returns and more to do with the non-utilitarian aspects of behaviour. The salvation goods have features that cast serious doubts on the hypothesis that they are basically governed by market forces. On the basis of these considerations, the author attempts to verify whether a sociological approach to liturgy of a charismatic performance might be able to discover how salvation gift or goods work. Two case studies have been selected: the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God and the Catholic Neo-Pentecostal movement.

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In this article, we shall describe the complexity and differentiation that characterizes the state of religion in Italy, beginning with a concise reconstruction of the chief factors that characterize the relationship that Italians experience with their birth religion or the prevailing religion (Catholicism). We shall then describe the level of ethical and religious pluralism (found both within the Catholic universe and, especially, outside of that universe) that Italian society is beginning to experience directly, in part because of the fact that other religious entities (both old and new) are become increasingly visible in the public sphere, adding color and identity to the symphony of voices attempting to speak publicly in religious terms. In conclusion, we shall explore a phenomenon, popular religion, which continues to show extraordinary vitality. The basic hypothesis that we intend to set forth is based on the idea that ordinary Italians consider themselves Catholic but have a variety of different ways of interpreting their practical involvement with the Catholic Church.