Olga Breskaya

The study aims to examine the relationship between the Parental Religious Socialization Index (PRSI) and individual autonomy concerning religious freedom, comparing the role of family agency with that of broader social networks. How does religious upbringing shape the experiences of young Nones in societies with differing secularization paths, such as Italy and Russia? To explore this question, the PRSI is introduced and tested for validity on a sample of university students (N = 1810, including 645 Nones). The findings suggest that country of origin plays a role in how Nones perceive the significance of the PRSI, with Russian Nones displaying slightly higher levels of endorsement. Regarding religious freedom, Italian Nones showed the strongest support for the freedom to choose one’s religious or non-religious identity and to speak openly about religious matters. In contrast, Russian Nones prioritized the values of human dignity, the search for individual truth and the pursuit of personal spiritual fulfillment. Additionally, for Russian Nones, the PRSI is associated with the support of the idea of human dignity as connected to religious freedom, and in the Italian case, the stronger association is found between the PRSI and frequency of worship. Social networks appear to play a more significant role than the child–parent relations in shaping more autonomous positions in religious matters in both samples. The results are discussed in comparison with groups adhering to majority religions. The results highlight certain limitations, particularly the absence of longitudinal data to track long-term trends in religious socialization and the lack of control for parents’ religious backgrounds, which could provide a more nuanced understanding of intergenerational religious shifts. Another limitation is the overrepresentation of women (more than 70% of respondents), which may influence responses on topics such as gender and religious leadership. These findings have important implications for social institutions, particularly in creating pluralistic spaces that foster the development and respect of “diverse sensibilities” and encouraging dialogue between secular and religious worldviews (Breskaya et al., 2024). In particular, religious education classrooms – where social justice, morality, respect for difference, and religious equality are central aims – play a crucial role in equipping young people with “a language to articulate their perspectives or a grammar to enter into meaningful conversation with others” (Strhan and Shillitoe, 2022, p. 271). Our study suggests that at least two key factors are crucial in addressing the research question of this study: (1) the perceived importance of child-family communication and the specific ways in which secular or religious worldviews are transmitted at home, and (2) the role of the social milieu and broader social networks in filling gaps in the formation of individual choices and autonomy in matters of religion. Current studies on Nones highlight the need for a more detailed examination of their sociodemographic, political, economic and spiritual-religious characteristics. Our research suggests that it is particularly important to explore the extent to which Nones’ choices regarding (non)religion are deliberate and autonomous, as well as the kinds of experiences they bring to young people. Our findings raise important questions about what is actually transmitted through religious upbringing – is it primarily religious family identity, a break from previous religious affiliations, or the development of individual autonomy in shaping one’s spiritual experiences and worldview? Furthermore, what role does the family play in fostering individuals – whether spiritual, religious or secular – who value personal choice and autonomy?

The argument for adopting more comprehensive measures of religiosity, put forward by Yang and McPhail, underscores the centrality of the concept of ‘multiple’ as an entry point for analyzing contemporary religious belonging and practice. This article offers the findings from a 2023 study conducted among adherents of the Italian Buddhist Union (UBI, n = 515), testing the multiple religiosity hypothesis within the context of a predominantly Catholic society. After outlining the sociodemographic and cultural backgrounds of the participants, we explore the patterns of multiple religious belonging (MRB) and multiple religious practice (MRP) among Italian Buddhists, considering their prior and newly declared affiliations. Consistent with the research hypothesis–originally tested on a sample of young East Asians respondents by Yang and McPhail–UBI members in our study exhibit distinct patterns of MRB and MRP, with the latter being more prominent. In the Italian Catholic cultural context, characterized by societal conditions that foster pluralism, we found that both MRB and MRP demonstrate elevated levels, while newly acquired religious belonging plays a crucial role in the religious practices of UBI members.

Who are the religious Nones, given their representation as both a minority and a majority group within the religious landscape? This article presents findings from a comparative study of Italian and Uruguayan youth (n = 2047, with 844 Nones), focusing on sociodemographic profiles of “Nones”, their spirituality, religious belief, practice, and atheist and agnostic identities. The findings suggest that regardless of cultural context—whether in predominantly Catholic Italy or more secular Uruguay—young “Nones” tend to be males, hold beliefs, and engage in religious practices, albeit with varying degrees. Among participants in this study, those originating from Uruguay exhibit a stronger degree of belief and slightly more pronounced engagement in private prayer and attendance of religious services compared to their counterparts from Italy. Additionally, the endorsement of spiritual identity is notably stronger among religious Nones in the Uruguayan sample than in the Italian one. Instead, atheism is more prevalent among Italian Nones, whereas agnosticism constitutes a larger proportion within the Uruguayan sample.

As shown by sociological studies, the Catholic Church in Italy is very active in conducting advocacy and providing political representation to immigrants. It is also highly effective in carrying out services for immigrants, as well as fairly receptive to sharing places of worship with them. However, these sociological observations have been mainly conducted at the national level rather than by exploring the life of parishes through an empirical lens. This article aims, by applying the congregations study methodology, to fill this gap by detecting faith communities as the basic social units of religious life at the city/country level. In doing that, we discuss quantitative data collected in 377 Catholic parishes in the cities of Bologna, Milan, and Brescia. The findings suggest that Catholic parishes: (i) illustrate a low proportion of immigrants in their communities; (ii) show high activity in providing services for immigrants; (iii) are not politically engaged in advocacy for foreign persons at the local level; and (iv) similarly position themselves as politically conservative and liberal while expressing commitments to immigrants. This study confirms the sociological argument regarding the solidarity approach of the Catholic Church in Italy toward immigrants, while highlighting some ambivalent aspects related to cultural diversity and grass-roots political engagement within parishes’ life.

This article offers an overview of the most common misconceptions about religious freedom, with reference to the 2017 UN Report by Mr. Shaheed and the perspectives of other human rights scholars and experts. It proceeds with the operationalization of a selected list of misconceptions about this subject for empirical research of religious freedom awareness. We discuss the primary results from a survey on social perceptions of religious freedom collected from a convenience sample of university students in Northern Italy (N = 1035), offering, first, a new scale of religious freedom awareness (RFA), and second, a consideration of its association with various dimensions of religious freedom and other human rights. The findings show that awareness of religious freedom serves as a robust predictor of endorsement of a broader set of human rights by participants, including those potentially antithetical to religious freedom claims, such as gay and women’s rights. We discuss these findings against a holistic approach to human rights and empirical evidence that other variables (political engagement, passive secularism views, and spiritual identity) contribute to the endorsement of rights culture in Italian society.