Costituzione spirituale e dovere di concorrere al progresso della società: spunti per un’indagine = Spiritual constitution and the duty to contribute to the progress of society: points for analysis

Today, the Italian Constitution invites the scholar of law and religion to extend his research, starting from the micro-system of regulation of the religious factor, to the boundaries, not always definable with certainty, of the 'spiritual constitution'. The compass with which to orient the investigation is Article 4(2) of the Constitution, which prescribes the contribution to the “material or spiritual progress of society”. This provision helps to structure the physiognomy of the Republic in a secular, pluralist and 'progressive' sense. However, there are many interpretative knots to unravel. First of all, there is the reference to the idea of progress, which would seem to imply a predetermined path of social development, apparently at odds with the neutral character of today's 'living' order. This is only an apparent antinomy, which can be dissolved through a work of conceptual refinement of the terms in question and, at the same time, through an actualisation of the duties of solidarity in the post-secular landscape.