Abstract
This article focuses on the redefinition of Catholic religious education in Italian state schools, from compulsory religious instruction into a non-compulsory discipline of “religious culture”, by analyzing how the issue is framed and negotiated by political, religious and educational actors between 1974 and 1984. The negotiations between governmental and Church representatives in the revision of the Concordat led to attempts at a compromise on religious education, its regime and its guarantees for students’ choices. However, social movements and school reforms forced various actors and institutions to reframe it in non-confessional, pedagogical and professional terms in public arenas. “Religious culture”, as a category promoted by teachers and intellectuals, became both a social problem and the main justification for the ownership of the Catholic Church over the problem.
Highlights
The revision of the Concordat between the Italian State and the Roman Catholic Church is often presented as a major shift in Italian ecclesiastical law, made possible by the involvement of the Parliament1, and as the beginning of the inclusion of a different appraisal of religion in Italian society, with an officially secular State2
The various domains concerned by the Agreement on the revision of the Lateran Treaties and its implementation include aspects as diverse as ecclesiastical tax, religious marriage and Catholic Religious Education
From the perspective of political sociology, this research has been conducted on archives from political parties and teachers’ unions over the period 1974-1991, completed with a survey of main Italian newspaper articles on these topics from digital databases and with 25 semi-structured interviews with actors involved in “religious culture” social movements10
Summary
The revision of the Concordat between the Italian State and the Roman Catholic Church is often presented as a major shift in Italian ecclesiastical law, made possible by the involvement of the Parliament1, and as the beginning of the inclusion of a different appraisal of religion in Italian society, with an officially secular State2. GOVERNING CATHOLIC RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN ITALIAN STATE SCHOOLS: BETWEEN THE REVISION OF THE CONCORDAT AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS, 1974-1984
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