Posts Categorized: UAAR

Funds available to finance municipal land protection projects have reached over €24.6 million. The Presidency of the Council of Ministers yesterday released data on the allocation of the 8×1000 share of personal income tax (IRPEF) directly managed by the State for the year 2024. The amount allocated to projects approved under the “natural disasters” category has exceeded €24.6 million, to be distributed to selected municipalities that submitted remediation and recovery projects. This marks a record, compared to €19.5 million in… Read more »

Darwin Day is an international event held every year on February 12 to commemorate the birth of Charles Darwin through meetings and discussions. This year as well, UAAR local groups have organized numerous events to celebrate the birth of the father of the theory of evolution. In 2026, Venice is the city contributing the most to Darwin Day, with no fewer than three events: one on February 5 titled “Evolution of Vision,” one on February 12 in Venice Mestre, “Dinner… Read more »

In the 2024/25 school year, the number of students opting out of Catholic religious instruction (IRC) has increased by 1%: 42,000 more than the previous year. A secular overtake has occurred in three municipalities. UAAR urges families to make the best educational choice. Sooner or later, future governments will have to consider a serious reform of Catholic religious instruction in public schools. The number of students choosing not to attend IRC continues to grow steadily, at a rate of about… Read more »

The saga of privileges granted to the Church and members of the clergy continues. The latest chapter concerns the University of Bologna, which has decided to grant an exemption from tuition fees to permanent members of religious orders. Want to earn a degree in Bologna for free? Join a congregation affiliated with “Vatican Inc.” and you won’t have to pay any tuition. The Alma Mater appears to be the only public university in Italy to grant fee waivers to those… Read more »

Something surreal took place in Cerea, in the province of Verona, where the principal Silvia De Mitri of the “Fratelli Sommariva” Comprehensive Institute (combined primary and lower secondary school) invited middle school students in their final year to take part in an event that included prayers and blessings on the occasion of the inauguration of public works. An illegitimate act, given that the ruling of March 27, 2017, by the Council of State establishes that acts of worship are prohibited… Read more »

There are still a few places available to take part in Giubilaic, the initiative promoted by UAAR Florence and UAAR Lucca, with the patronage of the Municipality of Florence, aimed at giving space and voice back to fundamental issues that are still too rarely discussed from a secular perspective: freedom of choice, civil rights, self-determination, public education, and secularism in institutions. Giubilaic will take place in Florence on September 20 and 21, 2025, and the date is no coincidence. UAAR… Read more »

An increasing number of classes are adopting a textbook for in-school alternative activities to religion classes. Asti, Genoa, and Teramo are considered the most secular provinces. At the onset of the new academic year, with children returning back to school, the Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnistics (UAAR) has once again checked the variety of textbooks available for use during the alternative activity program. In doing so, the UAAR has analysed the data available in the “Textbook Adoptions” section of… Read more »

The Brian Award’s jury has conferred the prize to Paolo Sorrenino’s film, La Grazia, screened at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival. This present edition marks the 20th edition of the Brian Award, promoted by the Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics (UAAR). The film prized by the UAAR covers, from both an institutional and a political perspective, the ever-present and dramatically pressing issue of the legalization of euthanasia, which in the Italian context, is marked by an obstruction attributable… Read more »