Index

• Presentation
• Council of State, Section IV, judgment of 26 June 2025, no. 5577

(building permit granted in favour of a religious congregation for socio-cultural purposes – building intended for collective facilities / services of common interest for religious activities (secondary urbanisation works) – residential function carried out within the building, consisting of hospitality for members of the congregation and young people – merely ancillary and subordinate character of such residential use with respect to the institutional mission of the congregation – consequent exclusion, for urban-planning and building-law purposes, of the classification of the property within the functional category of residential use (including collective residential use) – inapplicability of Article 23-ter of Presidential Decree no. 380/2001 on change of use within the same functional category)

• Council of State, Section III, judgment of 3 September 2025, no. 7198

(recognition of international protection (in the form of subsidiary protection under Article 14(b) of Legislative Decree no. 251/2007) on grounds of religious persecution – holding of the relevant residence permit – application for the issuance of a travel document for foreigners – refusal based on alleged incompleteness of documentation concerning the “well-founded reasons” preventing the applicant from requesting a passport from the diplomatic/consular authorities of the country of origin – case law trend towards an attenuation of the related burden of proof, in correlation with the same reasons underlying the recognition of international protection – application to the case of a person belonging to a persecuted group (follower of a persecuted religion) – existence of the required conditions)

• Latium Regional Administrative Court, Third Quater Section, judgment of 22 September 2025, no. 16384

(Use of prohibited substances in religious services – balancing the right to religious freedom under Article 19 of the Constitution with other constitutionally guaranteed rights – Limits on public order and public health – legitimacy of the ban)

• Council of State, Section VII, judgment of 26 November 2025, no. 9307

(modal donation of public property in favour of a parish, subject to destination constraints for use as a place of worship and for social activities – capacity of public authorities to donate assets subject to the pursuit of a public interest and the presence of adequate reasoning – necessity for a prior assessment by the municipality of the specific public-interest considerations, including the preservation of the religious destination and the resulting savings in public expenditure)

• Council of State, Section IV, judgment of 9 December 2025, no. 9667

(places of worship and urban planning – municipal discretion – absence of an obligation to provide specific zoning or localisation – compatibility with freedom of religion)