Religiously Affiliated Schools in America and Italy

The aim of this paper is to make a comparison between the legal status of religiously affiliated schools in America and those in Italy, taking into account the difference between the two legal systems in which these institutions operate, and the different understanding of Church-State relations (separatism in the USA, Church-State Agreements in Italy). First, the study examines the different juridical legal structures offered by the two legal systems to religious organisations to manage secular works and protect their property. Secondly it examines the problem of the access of religiously affiliated schools to the public funding necessary for these institutions to continue to develop their mission: in both legal systems religiously affiliated schools are constitutionally denied direct access to public funding, but some forms of indirect access have been gradually admitted. Thirdly, the article examines new perspectives opened by recent statutes (in Italy) and decisions (in the USA) that are altering the traditional relationship between public/private and religious/secular which are going to offer a new, more equal role to religiously affiliated schools in both systems, preserving their spiritual identity and ethos.