Attributes and Activities of Religious Communities in Italy: First Results from a City Congregations Study (CCS)

Abstract

This article explores the attributes and religious, social and political activities of local religious groups in three Italian cities across all religious traditions. This is the first application of Congregations Study methodology in Italy to analyze the social composition, structure and activities of religious communities. The research was conducted between 2020 and 2021 with a total number of 877 communities mapped in the cities of Bologna, Milan and Brescia, and their surroundings. All local religious groups in three cities and their surroundings were counted and one key informant per group was interviewed (N = 566) with a Congregations Study questionnaire. Based on the results of the interviews, we found that, during the last decade, the dynamics of growth of adults’ and children’s regular religious participation was distinct within the Muslim and Christian Orthodox communities. Social service for elderly, environmental programs and political activity were found to be promoted by the Catholic communities to a stronger degree, while activities linked to the support of migrants were endorsed stronger by Muslim and Orthodox groups. Moreover, this study assessed the theological, ethical and political orientation of religious communities, highlighting different trends across religious traditions. The article discusses various configurations of urban religious diversity by bringing similarities and contrasts between communities of dominant religious tradition and minority religions, thus questioning the applicability of City Congregations Study (CCS) methodology to the analysis of configurations of religious diversity in Italy.

Catholic Parishes and Immigrants in Italy: Insights from the Congregations Study in Three Italian Cities

“…Using the NCS approach, indeed, was essential for examining Catholic parishes in Italy as formal organizational components dealing with immigrants and facing migration issues. Nonetheless, in line with our sociological research, it is important to acknowledge differences in organizational features and historical nuances [8] (p. 3). In this respect, the NCS approach struggles to grasp broad or diffused social activities on the margins of parish life or intersect with it through other religious entities.…”

“…Moreover, as Breskaya et al [8] emphasized the NCS approach has been modeled according to the crucial features of the North American religious context, i.e., the historical Protestant majority. Therefore, this approach requires a kind of "translation" to fit into the Italian religious context, which consists of a different societal landscape founded on a historical Catholic majority.…”

“…In other words, "this condition allows us to consider some elements of congregational life to be relevant to social and cultural dynamics in the Italian and European religious field. This regards the decline in religious participation in Italy [35,36], making worship attendance a matter of a voluntary choice rather than a social convention or family tradition" [8] (p. 3).…”

“…The study employed two distinct tasks to gather data [8]. Firstly, we identified and mapped the various religious groups present in the urban areas of Bologna, Milan, and Brescia.…”

“…Section 4 describes the research methodology of the congregations study, which was sharpened with the analysis at the urban level and designed as City Congregations Study (CCS) in the Italian context [8]. We explain the case study selection-i.e., the choice of three Italian cities-and methods of data collection for this research.…”