# Mediatized Catholicism--Minority Voices and Religious Authority in the Digital Sphere
## 4 The Italian Context of Mediatized Religions
Moreover, in TV entertainment, Catholicism is quite well positioned: among the locally produced TV series, _Don Matteo_ (priest-detective) was the third most viewed show in 2018 (Auditel data), and _The Young Pope_ had the most-viewed debut of any Sky TV series (Auditel data). The presence of religious symbols in advertisement is also particularly relevant, although it has changed substantially over the years ([PERSON], 2014). Comparatively less attention is paid to non-Catholic religions--mostly, they are featured in the news with respect to issues of folklore, immigration, and violence--especially Islam ([PERSON], 2016; [PERSON] and [PERSON], 2017). Research focusing on non-Catholic religions shows that the voices of non-Catholic religious leaders are rarely quoted ([PERSON], 2017; Osservatorio Carta di Roma7; [PERSON] and [PERSON], 2016), although this is gradually changing ([PERSON], 2017). When such religions are cited, it is usually official voices that are reported, whereas internal dissent is usually disregarded. Non-Catholic religions, from this perspective, are framed as internally homogeneous \"others\". Footnote 6: VII report on religions on TV and VIII report on religions in TV news—Critic Liberale Foundation. Fourth, when political actors in the public sphere talk and write about religion, it is Catholicism to which they mostly refer. Since the early 1990s, after the collapse of the Christian Democrats--the main political channel for Catholic values--political actors have been vying to attract the supposedly dispersed Catholic vote. Center-right parties became the champions of Catholic values, upholding neo-confessional moral conservatvalues ([PERSON], 2016; [PERSON], 2016; [PERSON] and [PERSON], 2016). Center-left parties instead gave prominence to Catholic social teachings and solidarity ([PERSON], 2019). The populist discourse proposes a'militant' and nationalist version of Catholicism--a supposedly shared identity to be defended from 'invasion' by immigrants, particularly Muslims ([PERSON], 2000; [PERSON], 2018). With the exception of Islam, other non-Catholic religions are almost invisible in the Italian public and political discourse ([PERSON], 2018, 2019). The mediatization of Catholicism has intersected with the secularization process and the transformation of religious authority. As in other European contexts, the Catholic Church's moral authority over the faithful in Italy has been declining ([PERSON], 1994), though to a lesser extent than in the northern European countries ([PERSON], 2014; [PERSON], 2013). At the same time, internal secularization has resulted in the intensification of the differences and the competition between the many groups and souls composing the Catholic Church to the extent that some scholars have framed it as a \"secarian\" Church ([PERSON], 2013, 2018). Thus, competing Catholic discourses and the Catholic Church's internal diversity ([PERSON], 2002) have become more and more visible in the public sphere. Non-mainstream and digital media offer the opportunity for non-Catholic religious actors and/or internal dissenting voices to intervene and construct an alternative discourse, as discussed in the previous sections. The Catholic Church started its online activities in the early 1990s, welcoming the digital world as a new forum for the gospel ([PERSON], 2015). The Vatican directly manages 78 websites and their related Facebook pages and Twitter profiles, as well as two official apps. The Pope has an official Twitter profile (@[PERSON]) in nine different languages and an Instagram profile (@[PERSON]). The different institutions of the Catholic Church have their own individual digital presence, such as the Italian Episcopal Conference and the Italian Caritas. At the local level, the majority of the dioceses have also set up websites, Twitter profiles, Facebook pages, and YouTube channels.