ABSTRACT
Italy presents an interesting case for the analysis of the relationships between religion and political parties: for more than 40 years starting from the beginning of its Republican history, the Christian Democratic Party (DC) firmly held on to power. Despite all its contradictions and complexities, the DC was, in fact, the political point of reference for Catholic Italians and the Catholic Church. Considering that Catholicism was seen by many as a ‘religious monopoly’, the DC also exemplified the representation of religion in the institutional political field. Its demise triggered a complex reorganisation of the role of religion in politics, calling into question Italy’s unclear secularism.
