Buddhism in Italy

Buddhism in Italy is the third most spread religion, next to Christianity and Islam. It involves, by the statistics of Cesnur (National Center of Studies on New Religions), almost 74000 believers. For Baumann they represent instead the 0,1% of the Italian population.

History

From the years 1984-1989, the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition of Thubten Yeshe and Thubten Zopa Rinpoche was based at the Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa in the Tuscan village of Pomaia.

The Italian Buddhist Union

The biggest Italian Buddhist centers are federated in the Italian Buddhist Union (Unione Buddhista Italiana: UBI), which is a member of the European Buddhist Union. The UBI was founded in Milan in 1985 and received recognition by the President of the Italian Republic in 1991.

The Buddhist presence in Italy begins to be known in the 60s, with the first attempts to ground some Buddhist centers. Between the oldest we can count the one of Engaku Taino and the Fudenji of Taiten Guareschi, disciple of Taisen Deshimaru. In 1960 is founded the Buddhist Italian Association (Associazione Buddhista Italiana) and in 1967 begins the publishing of the review Buddhismo Scientifico.

Italy

Coordinates: 43°N 12°E / 43°N 12°E / 43; 12

Italy (ⁱ/ˈɪtəli/; Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja]), officially the Italian Republic (Italian: Repubblica Italiana), is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Italy covers an area of 301,338 km² (116,347 sq mi) and has a largely Mediterranean and temperate climate; due to its shape, it is often referred to in Italy as lo Stivale (the Boot). With 61 million inhabitants, it is the 4th most populous EU member state. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino and Vatican City.

Since ancient times, Greeks, Etruscans and Celts have inhabited the south, centre and north of the Italian Peninsula respectively. Rome ultimately emerged as the dominant power, conquering much of the ancient world and becoming the leading cultural, political, and religious centre of Western civilisation. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the global distribution of civilian law, Republican governments, Christianity and the latin script.

Thierry Henry

Thierry Daniel Henry (French pronunciation: ​[tjɛʁi ɑ̃ʁi]; born 17 August 1977) is a retired French professional footballer who played as a forward. He played for Monaco, Juventus, Barcelona, New York Red Bulls and spent eight years at Arsenal where he is the club's all-time record goalscorer. At international level he represented France and is his country's record goalscorer.

Henry was born in Les Ulis, Essonne (a suburb of Paris), where he played for an array of local sides as a youngster and showed great promise as a goalscorer. He was spotted by Monaco in 1990 and signed instantly, making his professional debut in 1994. Good form led to an international call-up in 1998, after which he signed for the Serie A defending champions Juventus. He had a disappointing season playing on the wing, before joining Arsenal for £11 million in 1999.

It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a world-class player. Despite initially struggling in the Premier League, he emerged as Arsenal's top goalscorer for almost every season of his tenure there. Under long-time mentor and coach Arsène Wenger, Henry became a prolific striker and Arsenal's all-time leading scorer with 228 goals in all competitions. He won two league titles and three FA Cups with the Gunners. In 2003 and 2004 Henry was runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year. He was also named the PFA Players' Player of the Year twice, and the FWA Footballer of the Year three times. Henry spent his final two seasons with Arsenal as club captain, leading them to the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final.