ABSTRACT
Religion Italian Style is perhaps the most apt expression enabling us to make sense of contemporary Italy's curious religious situation. Many Italians Catholicism is too much a family affair to shake off lightly, to throw in the dustbin or consign to the attic; or too interwoven with personal concerns to be able to do without it at the critical moments of one's existence. Some Italians stay moored to Catholicism for reasons of simple realism, reflecting the given environment and predominant culture. The Italian situation is clearly not limited to the paradox hitherto outlined; certainly representing the basic characteristic which emerges from an empirical survey carried out on a broad sample of the Italian population between 16 and 74 years old. Catholic Church which in public debate is more and more exposed to emerging social and ethical themes, despite the fact that its believers are by now a minority and the opposition of most of the lay population.
