Fifty years after the conference in which Law and Religion Scholars held a dialogue with Constitutional Scholars in Siena, central issues of that discussion are recalled, and those of a future debate are envisaged, with the hope that both disciplines might benefit from it.
Fifty years after the conference in which Law and Religion Scholars held a dialogue with Constitutional Scholars in Siena, central issues of that discussion are recalled, and those of a future debate are envisaged, with the hope that both disciplines might benefit from it.
About the Modification of the Choice to Attend or not Attend Teaching of Catholic Religion. A School Point of View
ABSTRACT: A recent judgement of the Judicial Administration has authorized the free modification of the choice to attend or not attend teaching of Catholic Religion in Italian schools, against the Concordat between Italian Republic and Holy See. The article discusses the judgement formally (highlighting a lack of jurisdiction) and on the substance (a confusion between a cultural and a cultic meaning of the teaching). In addition to institutional relations between State and Church, there are epistemological consequences on the nature of the same teaching.
SOMMARIO: 1. Attualità del problema - 2. La normativa sulle iscrizioni e la scelta di avvalersi o non avvalersi dell’insegnamento della religione cattolica (Irc) - 3. Il caso in giudizio - 4. Sul difetto di giurisdizione - 5. Le motivazioni della sentenza: il richiamo alla libertà di culto - 6. Un Irc culturale o cultuale? - 7. Un bilanciamento poco equilibrato - 8. L’Irc come disciplina scolastica - 9. In attesa di revisioni.
La segregazione etnico-religiosa nel sistema educativo in Irlanda del Nord *
Ethnic-religious segregation in the education system of Northern Ireland
ABSTRACT: After many years of conflict, Northern Ireland still appears today as a deeply divided society that bears the marks of centuries of ethnic hostility with a strong religious connotation. The context in which, more than any other, the segregationist tension between the two communities, Protestant and Catholic, is still clearly perceivable is the education system, which is characterized by a significant separation of students according to their religious affiliation. The paper aims at reconstructing the origins and outlining the focal points of such an education system, which was recently brought to the attention of the Northern Ireland Supreme Court, with reference to discrimination against students belonging to other religions or beliefs.
SOMMARIO: 1. Premessa - 2. Le origini del conflitto politico-religioso - 3. Le persistenti difficoltà politiche e le ricadute sui rapporti interconfessionali - 4. La segregazione scolastica - 5. Profili di discriminazione religiosa nell’accesso alla scuola - 6. La discriminazione nell’insegnamento della religione: la recente pronuncia della High Court of Justice of Northern Ireland - 7. Conclusioni.
The long road after WWII until today (1944-2023): from the reinstatement of the rights denied to Jews victim of the racist laws of fascist Italy to recovering the Memory of the Holocaust to fight against prejudice and antisemitism
ABSTRACT: This paper who served as a basis of the author’s speech at the official remembrance of the Holocaust at the residence of the President of the Republic of Italy (Quirinale palace) on 27 January 2023 examines the various phases of this process. First from 1944 to the mid-1980 the key element is the enactment of more that 90 pieces of legislation abrogating the antisemitic laws of 1938-45 and granting some compensation to the victims. In a second phase (until the end of the XX century) Judaism is recognized as religious entity with parity of rights as compared with the Catholic Church (the Agreement - “Intesa” - between the Italian State and the Union of Italian Jewish Communities of 1987) thus empowering Judaism in Italy to be an active and distinct contributor to Italy’s society. In that period the “Mancino law” of 1993 enacts criminal provisions to fight racism in Italy more effectively. The last phase from 2000 until to-day, witnesses, after the official recognition of the “Holocaust Remembrance Day” each 27 January (“Giorno della Memoria”) witnesses an engagement of Italian institutions to fight antisemitism through education and cultural initiatives.
SOMMARIO: 1. La reintegrazione nei diritti negati: un processo lungo e faticoso (1944-1987) - 2. Dal completamento del disegno costituzionale con l’intesa tra Stato e Comunità ebraiche (1987-89) alla repressione del razzismo con la “legge Mancino” (1993) - 3. La riflessione sulla Shoah quale insegnamento per l’oggi: il Giorno della Memoria (2000) - 4. La strategia europea contro le discriminazioni e l’antisemitismo: protezione ed educazione - 5. La strategia e le iniziative italiane - 6. In conclusione.
Still about wearing the Islamic headscarf and employee discrimination in private undertakings
ABSTRACT: This article analyses the development of the jurisprudence of Court of Justice of the European Union on the right to wear an Islamic headscarf at work. In the recent CJEU cases it has been reaffirmed that the employer’s rules do not constitute direct discrimination; however, it has been made clear that a policy of neutrality can justify objectively a difference of treatment indirectly based on religion or belief whether it meets a “genuine need” on the part of the undertaking. This test in most cases is not very different from the one concerning the presence of the “genuine occupational requirements”. The need to seek appropriate forms of composition between the freedom of the worker and the freedom of the company may make anti-discrimination protection under the ground of “religion” weaker than that under the other grounds covered by EU anti-discrimination law; but this is a consequence of the fact that the ground of discrimination constituted by “religion or belief” has been taken by the Court in close connection with the freedom protected by Article 10 EUCFR.
SOMMARIO: 1. Premessa introduttiva - 2. Il quadro dei principi di diritto fissati dalla Corte di giustizia in tema di porto del velo islamico nei luoghi di lavoro privato - 3. Il problema dell’individuazione del parametro della “situazione analoga” nel giudizio di comparazione volto ad accertare una discriminazione diretta per motivi religiosi - 4. Alla ricerca delle ragioni in base alle quali si dà per scontata la non praticabilità di una comparazione “esterna” ai dipendenti aziendali di un medesimo datore di lavoro - 5. I termini di una corretta comparazione interna ai dipendenti dell’azienda - 6. L’improponibilità, sul piano sostanziale, di una piena equiparazione del fattore di rischio legato all’esternazione delle convinzioni “religiose” a quello legato all’esternazione di convinzioni “filosofiche” e “politiche” - 7. La presunta migliore adattabilità dello schema della discriminazione indiretta in rapporto a una materia che richiede una peculiare opera di composizione tra distinte libertà fondamentali adeguata alle caratteristiche dell’azienda e alle mansioni svolte dalla lavoratrice - 8. La questione dei limiti di ammissibilità di disposizioni nazionali più favorevoli - 9. Considerazioni conclusive.
1 - Questo incontro mi offre l’opportunità di esprimere qui oggi, anche in qualità di allieva più anziana di una scuola nutrita, il profondo e sincero compiacimento per aver goduto della fortuna di poter attingere ininterrottamente, ormai da più di quarant'anni, a una sorgente tanto preziosa di conoscenza e di riflessione scientifica.
Proverò a sfruttare l’occasione di una coincidenza temporale del tutto casuale per evidenziare, in sintesi, uno dei principali meriti che sono stati nel tempo e sono ancora riconosciuti da più parti al professore Salvatore Berlingò e agli scritti raccolti nel volume di cui discutiamo.
Integral ecological transition and religious discrimination of migrant women in the Mediterranean
SOMMARIO: 1. Ecologia integrale e parità di genere - 2. Flussi migratori nel Mediterraneo e discriminazioni religiose femminili - 3. Interventi europei di collaborazione interculturale nel Mare nostrum - 4. Verso un’unica polis euromediterranea?
ABSTRACT: In this essay it is hoped that the current development model will be overcome, because it is highly polluting and unfair from a socio-economic point of view, based as it is on competition and prevarication, the result of male hegemony in decision-making bodies and therefore discriminating for weaker and for women. These, on the other hand, must guide an integral ecological transition, because they are more inclined to the custody of creation and future generations, as well as to the improvement of the general living conditions of society, through sharing and dialogue, rather than with imposition and hard confrontation, as Pope Francis claims, in the encyclical Laudato si'. In particular, the ecological and social degradation caused by the androcentric system has increased the flows of migrants so-called environmental, which cross the Mediterranean Sea undergoing abuse and discrimination including religious ones. Above all, Muslim migrant women are more vulnerable also due to the misogynistic cultural heritage resulting from an erroneous and obsolete interpretation of the Koranic texts. Europe can be more involved in the fight against the negative consequences of climate change and discrimination against migrants, implementing policies inspired by sustainable development and intercultural solidarity, also with a view to fostering the ambitious and suggestive attempt to reach a integrated Euro-Mediterranean area.
It is lawful for the faithful to decide to no longer attend those who leave the religious community, and the announcement of the resignation to the faithful does not affect the rights of the resigning person
SOMMARIO: 1. Il fatto - 2. Il punto in diritto - 3. La decisione - Sulla lesività dell’annuncio - 4. La decisione - Sull’ostracismo che sarebbe derivato dall’annuncio - 5. Conclusioni - Appendice.
Abstract: A resigning member who declares that he no longer wishes to be a member of the religious organization but at the same time does not wish to cease his membership of the same confession, is not liable to compensation for psychological and economic damage following the ratification of his resignation and its communication to the local faithful. According to the court, a member's resignation (an associative aspect) corresponds on a confessional level to no longer being considered a member of the confession. Therefore, the damaging nature of the public announcement is excluded. The general principles of law legitimize the actions of the religious organization, which also has constitutional protection in that the internal life of the religious body is regulated by its statutes, as no state interference is admissible. So-called ostracism on the part of members has no legal relevance, since it is rather the free choice of each individual to associate with someone or not, and this right is neither punishable nor harmful. The religious organization that suggests ostracizing behavior does not violate any rights as such teaching falls within the sphere of the lawful. The religious organization that suggests supposedly ostracizing behavior does not violate any legal norms, nor does it harm the interests of those who decides to cease his membership.
SUMMARY: 1. Introduction - 2. The necessary conditions of social negotiation - 3. Nordic Secularism - 4. Organic religious literacy - 5. Translation - 6. Conclusion.
ABSTRACT: The refusal to shake hands with a female reporter by a Muslim politician from the Miljöpartiet resulted in a controversy in Sweden. Together with a number of court cases, it revealed a disparity between the established judicial line and the views of the general public. The Swedish controversy received a response from Denmark, where the ruling coalition introduced new citizenship legislation with an obligation to shake hands with the mayor during a naturalization ceremony. These controversies highlighted the rising tensions on multiple levels, between majority and minority, religious freedom and gender equality, law and public opinion. This paper takes a closer look at the role of law as a negotiator and employs the notions of Nordic secularism, organic religious literacy, and the ethos of hospitality towards the untranslatable, in order to answer two questions: where these tensions come from and what are the possible ways of overcoming them.