Italy - make believers

While the new Pope, Benedict XVI, has had his first encyclical letter described in the media as being the kind of thing a theologian would produce, it's unclear how many of the faithful in Italy are paying close attention to the Catholic Churches instructions.

Although often assumed to be increasingly secular a recent survey suggests that there seem to actually be more believers than ever, it's just that they may not be keen on all the Churches teachings.

The letter does not go into great detail about dogma, more from the Corriere Della Sera... but the same paper also lists the results of a survey claiming the majority of believers back civil unions and divorce, while only a third go to mass on Sunday.

There's also a mention for the 8% who only go to Church three times in their whole lives - by car, still more from Corriere Della Sera...