The State, Religious Pluralism and its Legal Instruments in Italy and Slovakia

Abstract

In this paper we analyse how Italy and Slovakia have dealt in practice with the idea of religious pluralism and what legal instruments they have used to ensure it. The history of state-church relationships in Slovakia has been full of abrupt changes due to political changes; in Italy the development has been more straightforward, but in both countries the Catholic Church has had a privileged position. We offer a few suggestions for how today’s increasing religious plurality might be handled in a more transparent and just way, using a rather different legal and institutional framework and thus promoting real religious pluralism.