Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

are traditionally

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

and according to the 2005 Eurobarometer Poll retain an above-average belief in God.

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

is traditionally

as well and has an above-average fraction of

atheists Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

and

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...

are

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

countries and both are very religious. The Neopagan movements found in Latin Europe can be divided into New Age spirituality inspired by Celtic, Norse or Megalithic templates on one hand (

Neodruidism Druidry, sometimes termed Druidism, is a modern spiritual or religious movement that promotes the cultivation of honorable relationships with the physical landscapes, flora, fauna, and diverse peoples of the world, as well as with nature deit ...

Neoshamanism Neoshamanism refers to new forms of shamanism. It usually means shamanism practiced by Western people as a type of New Age spirituality, without a connection to traditional shamanic societies. It is sometimes also used for modern shamanic rituals ...

polytheistic reconstructionism Polytheistic reconstructionism (or simply Reconstructionism) is an approach to modern paganism first emerging in the late 1960s to early 1970s, which gathered momentum starting in the 1990s. Reconstructionism attempts to re-establish genuine poly ...

, either focusing on the ancient Roman religion or other native religions of Latin Europe (such as those of pre-Roman Iberia, Italy, and Romania), and political Neopaganism as part of

Alain de Benoist Alain de Benoist (; ; born 11 December 1943) – also known as Fabrice Laroche, Robert de Herte, David Barney, and other pen names – is a French journalist and political philosopher, a founding member of the Nouvelle Droite ("New Right"), and ...

's far-right ideology of the ''

Nouvelle Droite The Nouvelle Droite (; en, "New Right"), sometimes shortened to the initialism ND, is a far-right political movement which emerged in France during the late 1960s. The Nouvelle Droite is at the origin of the wider European New Right (ENR). Vario ...

'' on the other.

France

In the 1980s,

theorized the ''

'' movement, creating the

GRECE The Groupement de Recherche et d'Études pour la Civilisation Européenne ("Research and Study Group for European Civilization"), better known as GRECE, is a French ethnonationalist think tank founded in 1968 to promote the ideas of the Nouvelle ...

in 1968 with the

Club de l'Horloge The Carrefour de l'Horloge (literally ''The Clock Crossroad''), formerly Club de l'Horloge (1974–2015), is a French far-right national liberal think tank founded in 1974 and presided by Henry de Lesquen. The organization promotes an "integral n ...

. They advocated a right-wing,

ethno-nationalism Ethnic nationalism, also known as ethnonationalism, is a form of nationalism wherein the nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity, with emphasis on an ethnocentric (and in some cases an ethnocratic) approach to various polit ...

stance focused on European culture, which advocated a return of paganism. Members of the GRECE quit the think tank in the 1980s, such as

Pierre Vial Pierre Vial (born 25 December 1942) is an academic medievalist tied to the Jean Moulin University Lyon 3. A Nouvelle Droite leader, he is the founder of the Identitarian association Terre et Peuple. Biography Pierre Vial was born on 25 Decembe ...

who joined the FN, or

Guillaume Faye Guillaume Faye (; 7 November 1949 – 6 March 2019) was a French journalist, writer, and leading member of the French New Right. Earlier in his career, anti-Zionism permeated his work; later on, criticism of Islam became prominent in his writi ...

who quit the organization along with others members in 1986. Faye participated in 2006 in a conference in the US organized by the

American Renaissance The American Renaissance was a period of American architecture and the arts from 1876 to 1917, characterized by renewed national self-confidence and a feeling that the United States was the heir to Greek democracy, Roman law, and Renaissance ...

white separatist White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White s ...

magazine published by the

New Century Foundation The New Century Foundation is a white supremacist organization founded in 1994 by Jared Taylor known primarily for publishing a magazine, ''American Renaissance'', which promotes white supremacy. From 1994 to 1999, its activities received conside ...

. The philosophical background uniting Neopaganism and the ''Nouvelle Droite'' is the occultist or esoteric literature of " Radical Traditionalism" of

René Guénon René Jean-Marie-Joseph Guénon (15 November 1886 – 7 January 1951), also known as ''Abdalwâhid Yahiâ'' (; ''ʿAbd al-Wāḥid Yaḥiā'') was a French intellectual who remains an influential figure in the domain of metaphysics, having writte ...

Julius Evola Giulio Cesare Andrea "Julius" Evola (; 19 May 1898 – 11 June 1974) was an Italian philosopher, poet, painter, esotericist, and radical-right ideologue. Evola regarded his values as aristocratic, masculine, traditionalist, heroic, and defiant ...

and others. The influence of the ''Nouvelle Droite'' goes beyond France and is found in e.g., Belgian (Flemish) neopaganism, such as the brand of

Asatru Heathenry, also termed Heathenism, contemporary Germanic Paganism, or Germanic Neopaganism, is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religious studies classify it as a new religious movement. Developed in Europe during the early 20th cent ...

advocated by Flemish neo-fascist and high priest

Koenraad Logghe Koenraad Logghe (born 1963) used to be a Flemish proponent of the European New Right and former practitioner of folkish Asatru, founder of the ''Werkgroep Traditie'' neopagan organization (the successor of Logghe's 1983 "Order of Eternal Return" ...

. The Libre Assemblée Païenne Francophone (LAPF) self-identifies as an association of "convinced

free-thinking Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and that beliefs should instead be reached by other metho ...

and

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

pagans". Their ''Horizons Païens'' journal appears twice yearly (since 2005). They oppose all kinds of ethnic discrimination.

Spain

In 2004, Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, president of the

Pontifical Council for the Family The Pontifical Council for the Family was a pontifical council of the Curia of the Roman Catholic Church from 1981 to 2016. It was established by Pope John Paul II on 9 May 1981 with his motu proprio ''Familia a Deo Instituta'', replacing the Com ...

issued a warning that "Spain is at risk from the spread of neo-paganism": :''In some countries of Europe, there is a temptation to embrace neo-paganism, and although I do not believe that Spain is immediately at risk, nevertheless the risk exists because in today’s world everything gets passed around.'' On December 23, 2011, the Spanish Government officially acknowledged Wicca to be a religion, in the Register of religious bodies with the reference 2560-SG / A, being the first country for Europe and the second in the world after U.S., to recognize it. Celtiberian tradition of Wicca, consisting of Fernando Gonzalez in the 1980s from the Hispanic Traditional Witchcraft to which he belongs, is a structured religion through the symbiosis between "traditionalism wizard" ( inciatic and mystery), the historical reconstructionist (cultural and archaeological) and "adaptationism" liturgical (conditioning ceremonial) of Hispanic Traditional Witchcraft, paganism, religious worship pre-Christian Celtic and Iberian mainly and those that were previously formed (shamanism, Neolithic and Paleolithic cults). There is a small amount of

Germanic neopaganism Heathenry, also termed Heathenism, contemporary Germanic Paganism, or Germanic Neopaganism, is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religious studies classify it as a new religious movement. Developed in Europe during the early 20th cent ...

found in Spain, which includes the Comunidad Odinista de España-Asatru (COE) founded as ''Circulo Odinista Español'' in 1981. The COE was recognized by the Spanish government as a religion, allowing them to perform "legally binding civil ceremonies", such as marriages. COE is the fourth Odinist/Asatru religious organization in the world to be recognized with official status, after those in Iceland, Norway and Denmark. In December 2007, they conducted first legal pagan wedding in Spain, on the beach of Vilanova,

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Portugal

Following the line of visibility that the Wiccan Religious Confession, Celtiberian Tradition, imposed throughout the institution, this Tradition Wicca also established in Portugal has taken the first step and once applied for registration in the relevant Register, has just been registered and is therefore has become the first Confession Pagan recognized as religion in the history of Portugal.Wicca Celtíbera registrada como confesión también en Portugal , PNC Spain
/ref> Thus, the Portuguese public administration has been entered in the Register of Religious Entities Religious Confession to Wicca, Celtiberian tradition with the nomenclature: Data of Criação: 26/6/12 Confissão Wiccan Religious Celtiberian. Permanent Representação. NIPC: 980474531 - CAE / P: 94910. This milestone is also clear that Portugal is de facto the second country in Europe and third in the world after the U.S. and Spain, to legalize a Wiccan Religious Worship.

Romania

''See:''

Zalmoxianism Zalmoxianism ( ro, Zalmoxianism) or Zamolxianism ( ro, Zamolxianism, link=no) is a Neopagan movement in Romania which promotes the rebuilding of an ethnic religion and spirituality of the Romanians through a process of reconnection to their ancien ...

References

*''Ethnologie française, numéro 4 - 2000 : Les nouveaux mouvements religieux'' (2001), . *Francesco Faraoni, ''Il Neopaganesimo'', Aradia Edizioni (2006), . *Cronos, ''Wicca - la nuova era della Vecchia Religione'', Aradia Edizioni (2007), .

External links

Studio sulle correnti della tradizione pagana romana in ItaliaLes Fils d'Odin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neopaganism In Latin Europe

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...