Police Raids on Italian Churches Raise Religious Freedom Concerns

Case information
Incident date
Country
Italy
Place
Rome
Categories
  • Government Restrictions
Attack Against
  • Faith
Societal Sphere
  • Governmental
Religious Freedom / Discrimination
  • Other (text field)
  • Arrest
  • Lawsuit
  • Freedom of Association and Assembly
  • Freedom of Religion
Place of Incident
  • Church
Bias Indicators
  • Significance of Property/Structure/Location to religious community
Reported to Police
  • Yes
Response of Local Authorities
  • Unknown
Symbolic image; not a photograph of the reported incident.Image credit: Philip Schroeder on Unsplash

An unclear regulation about churches caused difficulties between churches and police. The Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti of Perugia, president of the Italian bishops' conference, asked the government to clarify these rules. During the Lockdown, the churches were allowed to be opened, but the assistance of a Mass was not declared as a vital necessity. The police raided several Mass being celebrated by small groups of people separated throughout the church and some bishops received reports of hundreds of euros for organising a mass.

Sources