THE RELIGIOUS MATRIX OF FOREIGN CITIZENS’ CULTURAL VIEWS

Abstract

The Religious Matrix of Foreign Citizens’ Cultural Views.
Estimating immigrants’ religious affiliations in Italy is methodologically challenging, since such data are absent from official sources and can only be reconstructed through projection techniques. Idos applies distributions of religious affiliation from countries of origin (based on international sources) to foreign resident populations, with corrections for regional variations. This approach, while subject to approximation, adopts the concept of “religious matrices” as cultural frameworks shaping migrants’ values beyond individual practice. For the first time, alongside the 2023 estimate, a ten-year historical series (2014-2023) is presented. The revision of coefficients in 2021 refined classifications, especially for non-religious individuals, who now represent 6.4% of foreign residents, challenging stereotypes of generalized religiosity. Christians (47.5%), Muslims (34.9%), and Hindus (3.4%) remain the main groups, while smaller affiliations reveal hidden diversity. The results highlight both the heuristic value and the limits of projection-based methods, underscoring the need for complementary field research.