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Vito Mancuso, one of Italy’s most famous intellectuals and author of best-selling books on religion – such as  L’anima e il suo destino  [ The Soul and Its Destiny ] (2007) and  Io e Dio. Una guida dei perplessi  [ I and God. A Guide for the Perplexed ] (2011) – is a secular theologian and philosopher of religion who promotes an anti-traditional understanding of Christianity aimed at lay people influenced by contemporary secular ideas. Mancuso’s influence appears to have reached a pinnacle since he is present in the media with various TV and internet interviews as well as articles published in famous Italian newspapers such as  La Repubblica  and  Corriere della sera . Moreover, his book  The Soul and Its Destiny  (2007) has been sold in over two hundred thousand copies which is a record for a theological work by any standards. Since he is still unknown to the English-speaking world, this paper investigates Mancuso’s notion of freedom, particularly freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, in the general context of his religious philosophy which focuses on the concept of soul. In Mancuso, a Catholic by (his own) confession, reality is essentially material, so everything which exists in the world and the universe is part of this material reality. The human being is no exception, thus its natural constitution is thoroughly material. Everything pertaining to the human being, including the idea of soul, is material. However, the fact that ideas, such as the soul, can be conceived within the materiality of the human being is indicative of the latter’s capacity for spiritualization; consequently, spirituality is also part of and constitutive of materiality. Hence, Mancuso’s belief that the soul is material, and so is everything traditionally accepted as spiritual, including ideas such as God and freedom. Since freedom can be connected to matter and materiality through the concept of soul, Mancuso argues that the reality of freedom is innate in every human being; men and women, however, must become aware of it and then live it out in their daily lives by promoting as well as defending freedom of conscience and freedom of religion. Both types of freedom are compulsory not only for the good of humankind in general, for peace, and security, but also for every particular human being who can lead an authentic life only by practicing freedom of conscience and freedom of religion without fearing repression of any sort.

Freedom of Conscience and Freedom of Religion within the Context of Human Security and Authenticity in Vito Mancuso’s Lay Secular Theology