Religion
| Religion in Italy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Religion | Percent | |||
| Christianity | 91.6% | |||
| None | 5.8% | |||
| Islam | 3.8% | |||
| Buddhism | 0.3% | |||
| Hinduism | 0.2% | |||
| Sikhism | 0.12% | |||
| Judaism | 0.1% | |||
Roman Catholicism is by far the largest religion in the country, although the Catholic Church is no longer officially the state religion. Fully 87.8% of Italy's population identified themselves as Roman Catholic, although only about one-third of these described themselves as active members (36.8%).
Most Italians believe in God, or a form of a spiritual life force. According to the most recent Eurobarometer Poll 2005: 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' and 6% answered that 'they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force'. This makes Italians much more theist than those of most other European countries, including France, Spain, and Germany.
Read more about this topic: Demographics Of Italy
Famous quotes containing the word religion:
“To know a person’s religion we need not listen to his profession of faith but must find his brand of intolerance.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)
“The great end of all religion ... is to purify our hearts—and conquer our passions—and in a word, to make us wiser and better men—better neighbours—better citizens—and better servants of GOD.”
—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)
“I told him that Goldsmith had said,... “As I take my shoes from the shoemaker, and my coat from the taylor, so I take my religion from the priest.” I regretted this loose way of talking. JOHNSON. Sir, he knows nothing; he has made up his mind about nothing.””
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)