Introduction

Abstract

This issue dedicated to Christianity and Democracy features leading Italian and international experts. It stems from the awareness that religion has found itself taking on an increasingly significant role in the public debate of modern Western societies. Today, religious faith is experiencing a phase of reawakening, of intense protagonism, both social and political, which leads it to take the floor on the most relevant issues of public life and to become a privileged partner in the lively confrontation between the multiple visions of the world and society. How is this public protagonism reconciled with the 'political' procedural rules of modern liberal democracies? What is outlined in the various proposed essays is a 'positive' framework in which religion, together with and on a par with other truthful instances, puts forward its own ethical proposals and submits them to the judgement of the democratic and liberal community. It thus contributes to enriching the public debate with new instances and life choices and offers an 'ethical' reserve that modern Western societies currently seem dangerously lacking.