Religion in Italy

Catholicism is by far the largest religious group in Italy. (Catholics make up 87.8% of the population, with 36.8% considering themselves practicing Catholics and 30.8% attending Church every Sunday.¹) However, there are also some important religious minorities.

According to the most recent Eurobarometer Poll 2005:²

74% of Italian citizens responded that they believe there is a God;
16% answered that they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force;
6% answered that they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force.

Demography

This is a scheme of the religious composition of Italian population (58,751,711 - 2006, estimated):

Christians: 53,800,000 (91.6%)
- Catholics: 51,600,000 (87.8%)
  - Latin Rite Catholics: 51,500,000 (87.6%)
  - Eastern Rite Catholics: 100,000 (0.2%)
    - Italo-Albanians: 60,000 (0.1%)³
    - Others (Romanian-Catholics, Ukrainian Greek Catholics, Armenian Catholics, etc.): 40,000 (0.07%)
- Other Christians: 2,200,000 (3.8%)
  - Eastern Orthodox: 950,000 (1.6%)⁴
    - Romanian Orthodox: 500,000 (0.85%)
    - Ukrainian Orthodox: 180,000 (0.31%)
    - Moldovan Orthodox: 100,000 (0.15%)
    - Others (Bulgarian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, etc.): 180,000 (0.31%)
  - Protestants: 725,000 (1.3%)
    - Evangelicals and Pentecostals: 550,000 (0.94%)
      - Assemblies of God: 400,000 (0.68%)
      - Others: 150,000 (0.25%)
    - Mainline Protestants: 175,000 (0.20%)⁵⁶
      - Waldensians and Methodists: 57,000 (0.09%)
        
        Waldensians: 50,000 (0.08%)
        
        Methodists: 7,000 (0.01%)
      - Seventh-day Adventists: 25,000 (0.04%)
      - Baptists: 20,000 (0.03%)
      - Brethren: 20,000 (0.03%)
      - Lutherans: 8,000 (0.01%)
      - Anglicans: 15,000 (0.03%)
      - Others (Disciples of Christ, Reformed, Presbyterians, Mennonites, etc.): 30,000 (0.05%)
  - Jehovah's Witnesses: 500,000 (0.85%)
  - Latter-day Saints: 25,000 (0.04%)

Muslims: 1,290,000 (1.9%)⁴
Buddhists: 160,000 (0.3%)⁴
Hindus: 115,000 (0.2%)⁴
Sikhs: 70,000 (0.1%)⁷
Jews: 45,000 (0.1%)
Bahá'ís: 4,900⁸
Federation of Damanhur: >1000
No Religion: 3,400,000 (5.8%)

References

^ Corriere della Sera - Italia, quasi l'88% si proclama cattolico
^ ReportDGResearchSocialValuesEN2.PDF
^ Italy, Statistics by Diocese, by Catholic Population [Catholic-Hierarchy]
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Caritas Dossier Immigrazione 2007
^ Chiesa Evangelica Valdese - Unione delle chiese Metodiste e Valdesi
^ http://www.chiesabattistadiconversano.it/i_protestanti_in_italia.html
^ Etnomedia
^ "Most Baha'i Nations (2005)". QuickLists > Compare Nations > Religions >. The Association of Religion Data Archives. 2005. http://www.thearda.com/QuickLists/QuickList_40c.asp. Retrieved 2010-01-30.

Religion in Italy

Demography

References

See also