In the European Union, there are 47.3 million people who were born outside their resident country. More specifically, in 2009, it was estimated a Muslim population of 13 million, a Jewish population of over a million and various groups of other world religions and contemporary paganism.

Despite these numbers, and even though the Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights guarantees the freedom of thought, conscience and religion, this freedom is not always respected during various stages of life and death. Many minoritarian groups are unable to carry funerals according to their tradition. This impossibility is not only against the freedom of religious expression guaranteed by human rights, but it also creates traumas, hinders positive grieving processes, and represents a real impediment to the social integration of these communities within Europe.

Oddly, even if migration studies and death studies are well-established research fields, a systematic study of funeral law and integration has never been undertaken before.

Project Overview

FRED aims to fill this academic gap by focusing on the social and legal reality of Italy — a country of unique interest due to its geographical position, religious history, and demographic composition (8.45% of the population has an immigration background). The project is based on ethnographic and legal data collected between Rome, Padua, and Palermo.

Data are collected through interviews, questionnaires, participant observation, document analysis, and focus groups involving both members of minority communities and workers of the funeral industry. Comparative analyses will be conducted with data from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, in collaboration with death scholars working on migration-related topics.

Aims and Vision

The major aim of this research is to explore the current state of freedom of religious expression in Italy, in relation to other European countries, in order to produce data that can inform and stimulate policy and social change concerning religious freedom and integration in Europe.