This volume brings together a number of reports and communications presented at the conference held in the Great Hall of the Department of Legal Sciences at the University of Ferrara on 26-27 October 2007 on the theme: “The Charter and the Court”. The issues to be addressed concerned the criminal protection of religious matters in the Rocco Code Rocco in relation to both the Constitution and the interpretations proposed and imposed over the last thirty years by the Constitutional Court.

The plurality and diversity of opinions were the lifeblood of the debate and the justification for the conference itself, demonstrating the ongoing relevance of ecclesiastical matters and the centrality in Italy of religion in its various forms.

In the hope of having contributed, albeit in a limited way, to fostering study and debate on some of the most sensitive issues related to ecclesiastical matters, the editor would like to thank those who contributed scientifically with their writings and those who contributed financially to the realization of the conference.