Is Nonreligion a Religion? The Italian Legal Experience

This chapter aims at examining the Italian legal experience with nonreligion. Sections 2 and 3 will trace the historical development – from the monarchical period to the republican age – of the legal treatment of nonreligion. Section 4 will focus on the two most important cases concerning nonreligion (Lombardi Vallauri and Lautsi), which originated from applications lodged against Italy and examined by the European Court of Human Rights. Section 5 will take into account the European model of State-religion (and nonreligion) relationships, elaborated by Silvio Ferrari, and will assess whether the legal treatment of nonreligion in Italy – both as an individual Weltanschauung and as a collective reality – fits into that interpretative framework.