Abstract
Studies on sexuality in Italy conducted in recent decades show a significant relationship between adherence to Catholicism and sexual behavior. Yet, the last 20 years has also seen an acceleration in the decline of young practicing Catholics, and more and more young people do not follow Catholic teachings regarding sex. We assess whether and in which direction the association between sex and religion has changed by comparing two identical surveys of national samples of Italian university students carried out in 2000 and 2017. We test two sides of a same hypotheses: a weakening vs. a strengthening of the relationship between religion and several sexual behaviors/opinions on sexuality. We find that the reduced proportion of young Catholics has not been accompanied by a strengthened adherence to Catholic sexual morality: today religious youth are more similar to the non-religious than they were at the beginning of the twenty-first century. However, especially among individuals who are single and women, the differences between more or less religious young people continue to be relevant. Thus, despite a weakening of the relationship between sexuality and religion, it is too early to pronounce an end of “Catholic” sexuality in Italy.
Highlights
Introduction and backgroundAs a result of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), the declared aims of Catholic marriage deeply changed, with greater importance placed on the relationship between groom and bride and less on the centrality of its reproductive function
We focus our reflection on the changes in the impact on three most relevant aspects: virginity, cheating, and homosexuality
Sexual behavior and opinions concerning sex We start by showing the main changes between 2000 and 2017 in the sexual behavior and opinions about sex among Italian students
Summary
Introduction and backgroundAs a result of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), the declared aims of Catholic marriage deeply changed, with greater importance placed on the relationship between groom and bride and less on the centrality of its reproductive function. While the 1917 Canon Law (article 1013) states that “the primary goal of marriage is the procreation and education of children. Its secondary goal is mutual help and the allaying of concupiscence”, the 1983 Canon Law (article 1055) instead asserts that “the matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish themselves in union throughout their lives, and which by its very nature is ordered to the well-being of the spouses and the procreation and upbringing of children, has, among the baptized, been elevated by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament.”. Numerous recent documents issued by the Catholic Church exalt the importance of sexuality within the marital relationship See the references, quoted in the same document, to the catechesis on this theme developed by Pope John Paul II).
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