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 »

«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 »

This is the request at the heart of the petition launched today on change.org by the Italian Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics (UAAR). “With the current opaque 8×1000 mechanism, repeatedly condemned by the Court of Auditors, every year the state gives religious institutions a share that exceeds one billion euros”, reads the text of the petition: “Sign if you want more than a billion euros a year to remain to the State and be used for research and health, without paying… Read more »

«At a time when everybody is undergoing heavy restrictions on personal freedoms, Italian catholic bishops say they “can’t tolerate” any restriction on their ability to perform religious services in public, and are putting pressure on our Government to revoke the limitations in place. But freedom of worship must not prevail over the common good. And bishops requiring privileges which put people in danger is outrageous.» This is how Union of Atheists and Rationalist Agnostics’ Secretary Roberto Grendene commented on the… Read more »

The graduate thesis award of the Italian Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics (Uaar) reaches its fourteenth edition and this year it will be given to students who graduate with a final thesis of particular value which is consistent with the social purposes of the association, mainly the protection of secular civil rights, freedom of thought and secularism of the state. The three prizes of 1,000€ each for master’s degrees, specialist degrees or old graduate degree, awarded after 2007 were extended last… Read more »

“We can only be happy and satisfied about this order by the Supreme Court of Cassation, accepting our appeal and recognizing our right to be atheists and agnostics and to say it loud. As trivial as this sounds, it took seven years of legal battles to be put black on white.” With this comment Adele Orioli, in charge of legal initiatives at the Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics (Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti, Uaar), hailed the order… Read more »

“We have a RAI Vatican Channel (public information programming), religious tv series, a dedicated bishop’s channel, Vatican correspondents, TV reporting which almost always opens with irrelevant statements by the pope. And if that wasn’t already enough, now get the daily mass on RAI 1. There has never been a more appropriate time than now for our country to deserve a plurality of information, promoting research and the rational discussionof problems and solutions and instead what State TV thinks we need… Read more »