Religious demand remains "extremely high". "A vast majority of people state they have experienced God’s closeness and protection at least once in their lifetime". This has been confirmed by a survey called "The reading of the Scriptures" conducted by Gfk-Eurisko under the guidance of sociologist Luca Diotallevi on behalf of the Catholic Biblical Federation, presented in Rome today. The purpose of the survey was to measure the relationship between the adult population and the Scriptures. Conducted on twelve countries, three Italian cities and the region Umbria, the survey was ecumenical in character (the interviewees included Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant people). It showed the presence of a widespread religious feeling. While the majority of the interviewees believe in God, "the practical spreading is different". 75% of Italians have a Bible at home but just 27% state they have read a passage in the last year. Generally, in Italy, rather than reading it, people prefer to listen to homilies and preaches, which are liked by virtually all of the interviewees (19% state they "like them a lot", 35% "enough" versus 7% saying "they did not like them at all"). (continued)
