Desacralizzazione e riuso delle chiese cattoliche: codifiche e prassi urbane

This essay looks into the desacralization of Catholic churches and their changing role in the framework of the Italian urban tissue. It starts by analyzing the codification of the reuse of churches by canon law and national and international law. In all the considered legal systems, the axiology leading the regulation of the desacralization and reuse of the churches is based on the preservation of the memory of the sacredness of the place and of its cultural value. The analysis then compares the codification proposed by the authorities to the concrete praxis and provides a tentative typology of the most recurrent kinds of reuse in the Italian urban context, pointing out the main socio-cultural conflicts they entail. It concludes by presenting some reflections about the aesthetic, ideological and pathemic issues at stake in the common imagery about desacralized churches.