Religious diversity in contemporary Europe

This module on religious diversity in contemporary Europe uses a historical and sociological approach to understand what are the features of the increasing religious and denominational diversity in Europe, especially for the last three decades. This new diversity is not only religious but also cultural and challenges old national models characterized by the predominance of one religion or by a co-existence between two main denominations belonging to the same religious tradition. In most of European countries, we can find different political answers to confront this new plurality ranging from assimilation to multiculturalism. It is important to distinguish two notions that are often confused in public speech: “religious diversity” as a purely descriptive notion and “religious pluralism” as an evaluative or normative notion.