Panel: PHD RESEARCH IN THE STUDY OF RELIGION



86.1 - THE SPATIAL DIMENSION OF INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE: A CASE STUDY OF THE ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OF THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS IN TURIN

AUTHORS:
Pignotti C. (Sapienza University of Rome ~ Rome ~ Italy)
Text:
Urban space is the social field in which religious diversity in contemporary Italy becomes most evident, and where religious groups compete for visibility, recognition, and places of worship. The sites associated with the so-called minorities can be examined as indicators of an increasingly plural religious geography. Within this context, both peaceful and conflictual dynamics are articulated through processes of external recognition, which may take a horizontal form—religious and social—when occurring between peers, or a vertical one, and thus a juridical form. This study presents the findings of research conducted in the city of Turin, an emblematic case within the Italian religious landscape for the management of religious diversity and interreligious dialogue initiatives. The analysis focuses on the Romanian Orthodox Church located in the historic center, which I interpret as a shared religious place. This case shows how a spatial and material perspective can offer an innovative approach to the field of interreligious dialogue. Places of worship are crucial spaces for interreligious dialogue: they serve as laboratories of local peacebuilding and experiments in coexistence, mutual respect, encounter, and conflict mediation. However, in a frame of multiple secularities, the ambiguity of both the national and regional legal systems contribute to marginality of the religious dimension in the city's urban planning policies, ignoring the important role these places play as spaces of cohesion, identity, inclusion.