Congregations and Human Rights: Case studies in Bologna and Milan

This doctoral research adopts the Congregational studies approach as a privileged methodology to further investigate the relationship between religion and human rights, and assumes religious congregations as the cardinal observation point. This project carries out a survey on religious congregations in two Italian cities: Bologna and Milan. The findings of this study (a) shed light on the religious diversity of Bologna and Milano; (b) portray the structure of local religious communities, and highlight the differences between the two cities; (c) deepen the levels of civic engagement of congregations in Bologna and Milan, underlying the differences among the two cities; and (d) explore the attitudes of religious communities towards gender equality, end-of-life, and homosexuality issues.