Rome is the seat of the approximately 1.2 billion Roman Catholics. Strictly speaking it’s the Vatican City State that occupies this position, but as it is surrounded by the city of Rome, it is understandable why so many meld the two.
The Pope was the head of the Papal States, comprising roughly the center third of Italy, from 756 to 1870. By 1860 most of the Papal States had been conquered by what had become known as the Kingdom of Italy in an effort termed Il Risorgimiento. At that point the Pope only controlled Lazio, the province in which Rome is located, but he lost that in 1870. He then governed only the Vatican City. This arrangement was formalized by the 1929 accord negotiated with Fascist Italy under the pugnacious and blustering Mussolini.
What remains of the Papal power is largely religious. How strong is the Pope’s religious holds over the Italian people? This is not an easy question to answer as there are multiple polls providing varying results. I estimate that roughly 75 percent of Italians are nominally Roman Catholic (RCC), with about half of them observant (attending church on a regular basis), about 10% are atheist or agnostic, 4% are non-Catholic Christians including more than 100,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses and about 50,000 Mormons, 3.5 percent Muslim, with 2 percent who are followers of other religions, including Buddhists, Jews (there are about 40,000), Hindus, Sikhs, etc.
The Pope’s celebrity gives the appearance of importance greater than his actual influence justifies, given half of the country’s Roman Catholics do not regularly participate in Church activities, such as service attendance, despite the threat of eternal damnation for failing to do so. This same group, however, when asked, largely express a belief in the Christian deity. For more information check out Religion in Italy and Pew.
Even in Rome churches are closed for lack of attendance, allowing the Church to better manage its resources. This is in spite of the fact that aside from the four large churches in Rome, the rest of the churches in Italy are maintained by the Italian government. In some places elsewhere in Europe, the buildings are converted to secular use such as art museums or turned into paid visits.
Church maintenance is not the only form of governmental assistance. Without his other assistance the Church would probably collapse. In Italy by law 0.8% of every taxpayer’s annual payment is devoted either to an organized religions which performs social services, or to a state-funded social assistance program. The system is called the otto per mille, meaning eight for every thousand. Over €1 billion a year flows into church coffers from this source. The RCC is not alone: recipients include “…the Waldensian Church, the Assemblies of God, the Seventh Day Adventists, the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, the Lutherans, the Baptists, the Greek Orthodox, along with the Italian Buddhist Union and the Italian Hindu Union.” Tax payers choose the recipients. The Catholic Church remains the most popular choice in 2024, selected by about 70 percent of those who express a preference. The government generally finishes a distant second, followed by other religious groups. See Crux Without this system, the Church would be reliant on Sunday donations, sales of paraphernalia and its businesses.
The Church owns businesses? Indeed, it does. There are Church properties such as private clinics, hotels, bed and breakfast accommodation and guest houses. The income was not taxed provided part of it was occupied by priests or nuns, or had a chapel or prayer room. This created an easy tax loophole. Then the EU took Italy to court. In March of 2023 the Court ordered the Italian government to collect taxes on Church revenue. The tax obligation mounts into the millions. The matter is ongoing but could result in a significant hit on Church coffers. See Reuters
