Public interests stemming from religious freedom: the case of the Mosque of Monfalcone in Italy

The availability of a place of worship is an essential extension of the freedom of religion guaranteed by Article 19 of the Italian Constitution, irrespective of legal recognition of a religious community or its agreements with the State. This article proposes an original administrative-law approach to religious freedom as a public and collective interest, linking the practice of worship to the categories of public interest and public service. Drawing on the Monfalcone case (2023–present), it analyses how municipal discretionary powers in regulating places of worship affect the effective protection of constitutional rights. The article conceptualises places of worship as essential public services and subjects municipal action to the principles of impartiality, efficiency, and good performance under Article 97 of the Constitution and Law no. 241 of 1990. It demonstrates that administrative discretion governs the modalities of exercising religious freedom and that procedural or planning deficiencies may result in indirect restrictions on fundamental rights. By bridging administrative law and the law on religion, the article offers both a theoretical and a governance-oriented framework for managing religious pluralism. The article’s main finding is that the collective exercise of religious freedom generates a constitutionally protected public interest that requires active administrative implementation.