European court: No crucifixes in Italian schools

By The Associated Press Comments 0
Published: November 8, 2009

ROME — The Vatican on Tuesday denounced a ruling by the European court of human rights that said the display of crucifixes in Italian public schools violates religious and education freedoms.

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In a decision that could force a review of the use of religious symbols in government-run schools across Europe, the court ordered Italy to pay a $7,390 fine to a mother in northern Italy who fought for eight years to have crucifixes removed from her children’s public school classrooms. The Italian government said it would appeal.

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said the crucifix was a fundamental sign of the importance of religious values in Italian history and culture and was a symbol of unity and welcoming for all of humanity — not one of exclusion.

"Religion gives a precious contribution to the formation and moral growth of people, and it’s an essential component in our civilization,” he said in a statement. "It’s wrong and myopic to try to exclude it from education.”

Crucifixes are common in Italian public schools as well as courtrooms. Occasionally, legal cases arise; in one well-known case, a Muslim activist filed suit challenging the legality of the crucifixes in his son’s elementary school in Ofena, about 90 miles east of Rome. More recently in Italy, a judge who refused to hold hearings because there were crucifixes in his courtroom was ordered to stand trial for having failed to perform his official duties.

The Strasbourg-based court said the crucifix could be disturbing to non-Christian or atheist pupils.

The court said secular, state-run schools must "observe confessional neutrality in the context of public education,” where attendance is compulsory.

But while it fined the government, the seven-judge panel stopped short of ordering Italy to remove the crucifixes. The ruling can still be appealed to the European Court of Human Rights’ Grand Chamber of 17 judges, whose decisions are binding.