Posts Categorized: Press release

Uaar launches an Artistic Contest for a Secular Representation of Grief and Death

The association Uaar (Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics) promotes the first edition of the UAART Contest, which is open to all visual arts and aimed at the construction of a secular viewpoint for what concerns the representation of grief and death. The contest is open to all artists, regardless of nationality and devoid of age-related discriminations. The deadline to participate is July 5th 2024, and it is possible to enroll online, free of charge, at uaar.it/premio-uaart-iscrizione. The rule book… Read more »

In Public Offices the Crucifix Cannot be Imposed: the State Council’s Ruling on the Mandas Case

Following a fourteen year wait, the State Council finally ruled in favor of UAAR’s position concerning a matter dating back to 2010. In November 2009, in Mandas, a small municipality of 2000 inhabitants, the Union of the Centre affiliated mayor Umberto Oppus issued an ordinance whose intent was that of imposing the presence of a crucifix within all public buildings. The prescribed penalty for violating such an ordinance amounted to a fine of 500 Euros issued by the local police… Read more »

2020: Lombardy is the region with the highest clerical rate of the year

Lombardy is the region that in 2020 has shown the highest rate of institutional clericalism, according to the picture that emerges from the “Clericalata of the Week” section of the website of the Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics (Uaar), which collects the most clerical statements and acts made by representatives of institutions or public functions. “The confessional initiatives in this region over the course of the past year have been countless“, comments Roberto Grendene, secretary of Uaar. “They range… Read more »

Preserving the Rights of Those Who Don’t Attend Religion Classes: UAAR writes to Ministers Azzolina and Speranza

With the schools about to open, the Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics (Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti – Uaar) sent a letter to the minister of Health and to the minister of Education to verify how they mean to preserve the rights of all those students, aged from 3 to 18 years old and always growing in number, who do not want to endure the Catholic Religion Teaching. The public healthcare crisis we’re living, in facts, is… Read more »

We’ll be voting on the 150th anniversary of the Capture of Rome. When Politics forgets History

“Elections have been planned for September 20th, exactly the 150th anniversary of the Capture of Rome! Once again proof that the entire political class has forgotten the history, the achievements of freedom and secularism of our country. We’re willing to bet that had it been December 25th they would have paid more attention”. The secretary of the Italian Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics (Uaar), Roberto Grendene comments on the news that regional and municipal elections, as well as a… Read more »

Private schools to receive 8×1000 from the Catholic Church’s tax rebate? For once, we agree with the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI)

“While the country continues to navigate an extremely difficult phase, like clockwork the Catholic Church advances its demands for funding for Catholic private schools. The 120 million euro that has been allocated with the emergency act are not enough. They want a billion. It is always the same story: the government accommodates the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) by redirecting funds away from public schools, under the usual false pretense that private schools areessential, and it would be a disaster without them. A real bit… Read more »

Tax rebates to the State or the Church? Uaar is leading the conversation while the government takes a back seat

Starting today, Italians can send in their income tax forms and choose their preferred organization to receive 8‰ (eight one-thousandths, in Italy commonly known as 8×1000) of their income tax return. The Italian Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics (Uaar), which has always fought for the abolition of this mechanism that drains public resources in favor of selected religious denominations, in the face of the usual lack of interest of the State for its share, invites taxpayers to express an… Read more »

Religious celebrations are back: and the Catholic Church gets preferential treatment

«Once again, public policy is powerless over requests for special permissions coming from the Catholic Church. The government has given priority to religious meetings while other types of meetings continue to be banned (theaters, book presentations, meetings in social and cultural centers, cinemas, right down to education in public schools). Under pressure from the bishops, the government implemented a special regime for religious meetings, a special regime prohibited by sentence no. 45/1957 of the Constitutional Court. Freedom of assembly should… Read more »