Italian Constitutional Court, No. 59/1958, 18 November 1958

It must be declared the constitutional illegitimacy of art. 1, Royal Decree no. 289/1930 (“Regulation for the implementation of the law of 24 June 1929, no. 1159, on cults admitted by the State and for its coordination with other laws of the State”) to the extent that it requires government authorization for the opening of temples or oratories, as well as for civil purposes, even for the exercise of worship. It must also be declared the complete illegitimacy of art. 2 of the same Decree, as it subjects the exercise of the right to hold religious ceremonies and perform other acts of worship in buildings open to worship on the condition that the meeting is chaired or authorized by a minister of worship whose appointment has been approved by Competent Minister.

 

Artt. 8, 9 of the Italian Constitution
Art. 3, of the Law no. 1159/1929
Artt. 1, 2 of the Royal Decree no. 289/1930

1. The formula of art. 19 of the Constitution could not, in all its terms, be broader, in the sense of including all the manifestations of worship, undoubtedly including, as an essential form and condition of its public exercise, the opening of temples and oratories and the appointment of related ministers. The exercise of the aforementioned right cannot be conditioned upon the prior stipulation of an agreement (“intesa”) with the State pursuant to art. 8, third paragraph, of the Constitution.

2. The obligation to notify the appointment of ministers of "non-Catholic cults" to the competent Minister for approval must be considered sanctioned if and insofar as the religious denomination aims to make certain effects depend on the State legal system. The provision of the second paragraph, according to which no civil effect can be recognized to the acts of non-approved ministers of worship, is to determine in this sense the content and spirit of the first paragraph, which excludes its constitutional illegitimacy.