School crucifix ruling makes Italians cross

The French did away with crosses in the school 100 years ago.
The nation had some historical anti-clerical tendencies,
and strict Republicanism said no religion in public schools.

However, crosses were done away with by the majority of the
people not imposed by some "foreign" court.  It will be
interesting to see how the Italians work this out.

*****

School crucifix ruling makes Italians cross
STRASBOURG
November 5, 2009

THE European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Italy violates education
and religious freedom by displaying crucifixes in classrooms, prompting
anger in the fiercely Catholic country.

Ruling on a case brought by an Italian mother, the court found on Tuesday
that the right of parents to educate their children according to their own
beliefs was being breached.

Displaying crucifixes also violated children's right to freedom of religion,
the court said.

The Italian bishops' conference denounced the court as ''partial and
ideological'', saying the crucifix ''is not just a religious symbol but also
a sign of cultural belonging''.

Education Minister Mariastella Gelmini said the cross was part of Italian
tradition. ''No one, and certainly not an ideological European court, will
succeed in erasing our identity,'' Ms Gelmini was quoted as saying.

The presence of the crucifix in classrooms is not a sign of belief in
Catholicism, but it is a symbol of our tradition, she said.

But the European rights court said the display of crucifixes ''could
reasonably be associated with Catholicism''.

The Italian foreign minister said the Government would appeal against the
ruling.

The Vatican has denounced the ruling, with Vatican spokesman the Reverend
Federico Lombardi saying the crucifix is a ''fundamental sign of the
importance of religious values'' in Italian history and culture.

He said the European court had no right intervening in such a profoundly
Italian matter and that it seemed as if the court wanted to forget the role
of Christianity in Europe's identity. Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of
the Italian dictator, said the ruling aimed to ''wipe out our Christian
roots''. ''We are in the process of creating a Europe with neither identity
nor traditions,'' she fumed.

The case was brought to the European court by Italian mother Soile Lautsi,
after a long battle in Italy against the Catholic establishment.
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