Abstract

To understand the complex entanglement between politics and religion in contemporary Italy, it is necessary first to analyse its historical roots. When the process of the unification of Italy, commonly known as Risorgimento (resurgence) started, between the late 18th and the early 19th centuries, the Catholic Church still enjoyed considerable influence on the peninsula. On the one hand, the pope ruled the Papal States, which included today's Lazio region, and most of Marche, Umbria and Emilia Romagna; on the other, as the leader of Christianity, the pope had a considerable influence on the other Italian states.