[manbury]

Originally Posted by The Postman

I do get the impression that at least in a socio-political sense the Church holds a lot of sway.

You got the right impression

Originally Posted by The Postman

Interesting, many are leaving? I knew the economy was bad but I didn't think it was that bad. Where are they going?

Well, it is crucial to understand that Italians who are leaving the country now are mostly young and highly-educated people.
So these Italians are totally different from the ones who were leaving the country in the early XX century. Those were really dirt-poor and under-educated people.

So the problem with the Italian economy is that it fails to provide job opportunities with adeguate salary and career prospects.

Here's an interesting article about this phenomenon ( in Italian, use google translate ):
2012, i giovani in fuga dall'Italia. Emigrazione cresciuta del 30% - Economia e Finanza con Bloomberg - Repubblica.it

In 2012 78,941 Italians left, up 30% from 2011. The preferred destination is Germany, followed by Switzerland, UK and France.
But imho the most shocking datum is that these people are mostly from the rich Northern regions of Italy, instead of the Southern poor ones. This means that people are living not out of real desperation, but in order to chase better career opportunities.