Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CALCIO: THE OTHER RELIGION
Catholicism may be Italy's official faith, but its true religion is calcio (football) . On any given weekend from
September through to May, you'll find millions of tifosi (football fans) at the stadio (stadium), glued to the TV, or
checking the score on their mobile phone. In Naples' Piazzetta Nilo, you'll even find an altar to Argentine foot-
ball star Diego Maradona, who elevated the city's Napoli team to its most successful era in the 1980s and early
1990s.
It's no coincidence that in Italian tifoso means both 'football fan' and 'typhus patient'. When the ball ricochets
off the post and slips fatefully through the goalie's hands, when half the stadium is swearing while the other half
is euphorically shouting ' Gooooooooooooooool!', 'fever pitch' is the term that comes to mind.
Indeed, nothing quite stirs Italian blood like a good (or a bad) game. Nine months after Neapolitan Fabio Can-
navaro led Italy to victory in the 2006 World Cup, hospitals in northern Italy reported a baby boom. In February
the following year, rioting at a Palermo-Catania match in Catania left one policeman dead and around 100 in-
jured. Blamed on the Ultras (a minority group of hardcore football fans), the violence shocked both Italy and the
world, leading to a temporary ban of all matches in Italy, and increased stadium security.
Yet, the same game that divides also unites. You might be a Juventus-loathing Bari supporter on any given day,
but when national team Azzurri (the Blues) bag the World Cup, you are nothing but a heart-on-your-sleeve itali-
ano . In his book The 100 Things Everyone Needs to Know About Italy, Australian journalist David Dale writes
that Italy's 1982 World Cup win 'finally united twenty regions which, until then, had barely acknowledged that
they were part of the one country'.
The Sacred & the Profane
While almost 80% of Italians identify as Catholics, only around 15% of Italy's population
regularly attends Sunday mass. Recent church scandals and shifting attitudes on issues
such as gay rights mean that Italians are questioning the church's moral authority like nev-
er before. That said, La Famiglia Cristiana (The Christian Family) remains Italy's most
popular weekly magazine and the church remains stronger in southern Italy than in the
north. Indeed, even the more cosmopolitan, secular sections of southern society maintain
an air of respect for the church. The church continues to exert considerable influence on
public policy and political parties, especially those of the center- and far-right, and reli-
gious festivals and traditions continue to play a major role in southern Italian life. Every
town has its own saint's day, celebrated with music, special events, food and wine. Indeed,
these religious festivals are one of the best ways to experience the culture of the south.
Cream of the crop is Easter, with lavish week-long events to mark Holy Week. People pay
handsomely for the privilege and prestige of carrying the various back-breaking decora-
tions around the town - the processions are usually solemnly, excruciatingly slow.
Pilgrimages and a belief in miracles remain a central part of the religious experience.
You will see representations of Padre Pio - the Gargano saint who was canonised for his
role in several miraculous recoveries - in churches, village squares, pizzerias and private
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