Il contributo delle religioni all'elaborazione delle politiche pubbliche in favore degli anziani: dare valore alla persona nell'età 'grande'

This essay aims at exploring two interconnected aspects of the participation of religious actors in determining the national public policies related to the elderly people. Firstly, considering the recent legislative reform on the protection and promotion of the advanced age, it will be emphasized the role taken in the process by religious actors, through theoretical and practical cooperation. In this scenario, the framework and content of the ‘Charter for the rights of the elder and the duties of the community’ will be analyzed and the civil society’s engagement in the reform of the social assistance for elderly people who are not self-sufficient will be recalled. These two examples not only demonstrate a significant and practical commitment and collaboration of religious actors with the State in building effective public policies for the old age, but also illuminate the religious meaningful perspective on the aged people, focused on their agency, relational abilities and capacity to be actively engaged in society. A second part of the essay will examine a recent qualitative research on religiosity and the elderly people, the outcomes of which confirm that most of the aged people maintain a strong religious feeling and look at religion as an essential feature of their life, which enhances their happiness and their sense of belonging to a community and constitutes a source of healing and resilience in tough times. These data, showing how relevant is religion for the well-being of aged people, suggest that public policies addressing the elderly people would protect and promote their freedom of thought, conscience and religion, reducing any practical limitation to individual and collective worship as well as preventing possible intersectional discriminations and forms of intolerance that obstacle and diminish their right to freely exercise their religion or belief.