Ecclesiastical Law

The subject systematically organizes, according to specific interpretative criteria, the complex sector of the legal system governed by the principles of laicità, equality, and freedom irrespective of religion. This sector protects, across multiple areas of legal experience, the interests of individuals and social organizations in matters of faith-based convictions and beliefs. Accordingly, the course will examine, first and foremost, unilateral legislation (of international, European, national, and regional origin) and the bilateral law agreed upon with religious denominations.
Particular attention will be devoted to constitutional jurisprudence, which has contributed to the adaptation of legal sources and to the theoretical and systematic reconstruction of the principles underlying the discipline—principles that, moreover, have become increasingly receptive over the years to the contributions made by the European courts.
In general, the issues of equality and freedom of belief, conscientious objection, religious symbols, bioethics, family, euthanasia, and immigration are acquiring growing importance and continue to bring to the forefront the complex relationship between law and religion.
The following specific topics will be addressed:
1. Freedom and equality irrespective of religion within the system of sources of Italian Ecclesiastical Law.
2. The equal freedom of all religious denominations and the bilateral nature of their relations with the Republic.
3. Religious entities and the principle of non-discrimination.
4. The supreme principle of laicità dello Stato.
5. The system of public funding—both direct and indirect—granted to religious denominations.
6. Religious marriage with civil effects and civil marriage performed in a special religious form.