He did his Ph.D at the University of Milan and at the University of Paris XI. His main research interests are Church and State issues in Italy and West Europe; French laïcité; Secularism and Civil Religion; Democracy and Religion; Islam in Italy and in Europe; Comparative Law of Religions. He is a member of CNRS (Centre national de la recherche scientifique) Research Group on "Sociologie des Religions et de la Laicite," the International Migration, Integration, and Social Cohesion Network, and the editorial board of Dalmon.