Between 2015 and 2016, the National Service for Youth Ministry of the Italian Bishops' Conference provided a questionnaire to verify the number of oratories present in each diocese, their nature and the services they offered...
It turns out that there are 5,637 oratories, parish centers, youth associations, but they are actually estimated to be over 8,000 - with more in northern Italy - and they represent sites of privilege of the Youth Ministry of the Church in Italy. Most of the northern dioceses are annexed to parishes; in the South, religious Congregations are also active – including a fair number of Salesians and Daughters of Mary Help of Christians.
The activities proposed always have an educational purpose. 88% of the dioceses have their oratories open every day and offer a range of activities from games to sports, formation to after-school activities, from volunteering to school-camps, and pilgrimages ... Ecological-environmental activities amount to only 25%, a sign that more time is required to develop the sensitivity that's emerged from the "Laudato si'."
As for the structures themselves, in some cases there is only table soccer and a small outdoor field; in others, there is a bar, kitchen with dining room, rooms for cinema, theater, music, web radio... For the oratories, almost half of the dioceses have diocesan coordination.
In the overall assessment, what appears is that the oratories still represent a "safe haven" for parents, a place that "answers to the needs of families, young people, children and local institutions" that are even able to help towards the integration of foreign minors.
What, therefore, emerges is a "positive reality" that "responds and fulfills, with its diversified activities, to that lack of proposals regarding younger generations." The oratory is present, is there, and it is still lively, but it needs the care of the entire Christian community.
