With the entry into force of the Third Sector Code (Legislative Decree No. 117 of 2017), activities aimed at the prudent and sustainable use of natural resources, as well as the organization and management of religious tourism, have been recognized as general interest activities and incentivized through significant fiscal benefits within the Italian legal system.
The paper explores the opportunities that the Third Sector Code and Legislative Decree No. 112 of 2017 offer to religious corporations, both in fostering sustainable religious tourism and in promoting the active participation of religious entities—also in collaboration with public institutions and other social actors—in Renewable Energy Communities. These communities, in fact, are regarded as a "path of ecological conversion" as highlighted in the Vademecum of the Italian Bishops' Conference Renewable Energy Communities: Ethical, Technical, Economic, and Legal Aspects for Religious Entities.