Le développement du bouddhisme en contexte italien. Aspects de la modernisation et du pluralisme religieux en Italie.

The author presents a general overview of the development of Buddhism in Italy, where a religious modernization strategy has existed for some time, even though it has not led to major institutional deregulation of the Catholic Church. This can explain the small number of Italian Buddhists in comparison with those in similar countries. The author proposes a historical, statistical and institutional presentation of Buddhism in Italy and develops a comprehensive approach that shows that Italian Buddhists, even if deriving from different Buddhist traditions, share motivation similarities. Finally, he analyzes the social and religious specificity of the Italian context, and its effect on the emergence of new Buddhist communities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]