You go to mass on Christmas Day, Easter Sunday, and when someone from the neighborhood gets married — a sardonic description of the Roman form of Catholicism, which is deeply cultural and social rather than devotional. These are the three obligatory appearances, and nothing else requires church attendance.
Rome's relationship with Catholicism is the most intimate and the most complicated of any city in the world. Living in the shadow of the Vatican, Romans have developed a sophisticated folk theology that distinguishes sharply between 'credere' (believing, which is personal and variable) and 'rispettare le tradizioni' (respecting the traditions, which is mandatory). The three occasions listed — Christmas, Easter, and a neighborhood wedding — represent the minimum necessary to maintain social respectability and family peace. This is not atheism or anticlericalism (which has its own separate tradition in Rome, visible in the pasquinate and Belli's anticlerical sonnets); it is a characteristically Roman pragmatism about religious practice: the church is there, it serves important social functions, one participates at the required moments, and private faith (or its absence) is one's own business.
The Roman distinction between cultural Catholicism and practicing Catholicism was documented by nineteenth-century observers including the journalist and senator Massimo d'Azeglio, who noted that Romans' anticlericalism coexisted with profound attachment to religious festivals, saints' days, and the social rituals of the Church.
A Roman explains his church attendance to a puzzled foreign colleague
Vado a messa tre volte all'anno — er giorno de Natale, Pasqua, e quando si sposa uno del quartiere. È sufficiente.
I go to mass three times a year — Christmas Day, Easter, and when someone in the neighborhood gets married. That's enough.
A Roman grandmother nods approvingly at her grandson's minimal attendance
A Natale e a Pasqua ci sei venuto — bene. A messa ce va er giorno de Natale, Pasqua e quanno se sposa uno der rione. Non esagerare.
You came at Christmas and Easter — good. You go to mass on Christmas, Easter, and when someone in the neighborhood gets married. Don't overdo it.
A Roman priest jokes with his mostly absent congregation on Easter
Vi rivedo il prossimo Natale — a messa ce va er giorno de Natale, Pasqua e quanno se sposa uno der rione. Almeno voi siete fedeli a quel minimo.
I'll see you again at Christmas — you go to mass on Christmas, Easter, and when someone in the neighborhood gets married. At least you're faithful to that minimum.
A Roman sociologist describes the city's religious practice
Roma è cattolica nel senso folklorico, non teologico. A messa ce va er giorno de Natale, Pasqua e quanno se sposa uno der rione — il resto è faccenda privata.
Rome is Catholic in the folkloric sense, not the theological. You go to mass on Christmas, Easter, and when someone in the neighborhood gets married — the rest is private business.