Almost two out of three Italians believe that the teachings of the Catholic Church are still valid today, according to a new poll.
Carried out by the SWG research group, the survey found that 63% of Italians today considered the Church's teachings as valid compared to 73% in 2004, 56% in 2005 and 54% last year.
According to SWG, faith in the Church was not ideological and the decline in recent years was evident on both the political right and left.
One of the reasons for the recent decline, SWG observed, appears to be linked to the death in 2005 of Pope John Paul II, while this year's upsurge appears to be linked to the growing popularity of Pope Benedict XVI.
The poll also asked self-declared Catholics whether it was ''correct'' for the Church to intervene in Italian politics.
The results saw 51% disapproving of the Church's activism in domestic politics while 47% approved.
Among those who did disapprove were 71% who considered themselves to be center-left and 40% of those voting for the center right.
