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Only four of Italy’s major holidays are secular in origin. The others, including Epiphany, Easter Monday, Assumption Day, All Saints Day, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Christmas and Santo Stefano, are Catholic feasts.

India is home to three different kinds of liturgy: the Syrian rite liturgies of the Indian Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara churches and the Latin rite liturgy common to most of the church worldwide, which is celebrated in India in a wide variety of local languages.

"If we speak of a generic adhesion to Catholicism, we may affirm that this is still the great majority in Italy. But it is true that those who live their faith deeply are a minority."

Christmas celebrations might include a tour of a local presepe vivente , a theatrical reenactment of the nativity story. Living nativities take place all over Italy and attract thousands of visitors. Some viventi reenact life in ancient Palestine, while others set the Nativity locally. In Greccio, busloads of visitors wind up the hill to the site where St. Francis performed what is often considered to have been the first nativity scene for the annual reenactment. In Lecce, a free bus takes families on a vivente tour of performances in regional towns — Taurisano and Gemini on one evening

Presepe figurines, home décor, and construction materials are available at many Christmas markets. For the serious presepe enthusiast, San Gregorio Armeno, a street in the heart of old Naples, beckons with its dozens of workshops, many of which have been in operation for centuries.

The nativity scene or crèche, called in Italian the presepe or presepio , brings to life the story of the Nativity as told in the canonical as well as apocryphal gospels. The presepe (pl. presepi) , which literally means “in front of the crib,” has been an important feature of Christmas celebrations in Italy for centuries. Appearing in churches, piazzas, and living rooms on December 8 (the Feast of the Immaculate Conception), presepi remain up until after January 6, or Epiphany, the feast associated with the visit of the Three Kings or Magi. While a presepe will always include figures of Mary

Icons play a major role in the visual culture and spiritual life of Melkite Catholics. They are understood as more than just religious paintings, but as windows to the divine, a means of presenting holiness to the world.

Sant'Egidio is a global community of lay Catholics, numbering perhaps 70,000 people in 73 countries, best known for having brokered the end to Mozambique's civil war; bringing AIDS relief to sub-Saharan Africa; and for its advocacy against the death penalty.

Italy's most popular saint may be 20th-century Capuchin Franciscan, Padre Pio (1887-1968). A controversial and charismatic figure, this peasant-born ascetic had manifestations of the stigmata for decades, and was widely sought as a confessor and intercessor. His cult completely transformed the area around the convent where he lived, making it a major pilgrimage site.

Italy has a long tradition of lay confraternities that organize feasts or carry out specific works of charity. A number of new associations formed in Italy are beginning to spread internationally.