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Saturday, February 18, 2006
Italian Judges Rule Crucifix to Stay in Schools
Italian Judges Rule Crucifix to Stay in Schools
From Reuters: Thursday, 16 February, 2006, 01:10 PM

ROME: A leading Italian court ruled yesterday that schools should keep hanging crucifixes on classroom walls, rejecting appeals by secularists looking to sharpen the division between church and state.

The Council of State, the highest court for administrative affairs, said the crucifix was legal because it was not just a religious symbol but also denoted values at the heart of civil society in Italy, home of the Roman Catholic Church.

"It is a fitting symbol to express the high foundation of our civic values," the court said in its 19-page ruling.

"The decision ... to display the crucifix in classrooms does not therefore appear censurable," it said, rejecting any suggestion Italy had to conform to the same kind of secular society that existed in other countries.

The case was brought by a Finnish citizen, Soile Lauti, who had requested the crosses be removed from the school her children attended in the northern Italian city of Abano Terme.

"She did not bring this case as a member of any religion, Muslim or Jewish or otherwise, but as a citizen who believes in the principles of secularism of the state," said her lawyer Luigi Ficarra.

Laws passed under fascist dictator Benito Mussolini in the 1920s decree Italian schools and courts must display the cross.

Since Italy dropped Catholicism as the state religion under a new accord with the Vatican in 1984, the law has not always been strictly enforced but Italian judges and teachers still preside under crucifixes on their walls.

In one high-profile case that galvanised secularists, an Italian judge was suspended from service earlier this year for refusing to work in courtrooms adorned with a crucifix. Judge Luigi Tosti had said the symbol discriminated against non-Christian defendants.

The issue has been a rallying point for many of Italy's 1mn Muslims.

In 2003, a provincial court caused an uproar when it banned crucifixes in a school after a complaint by a parent, Adel Smith, a firebrand campaigner for Muslim rights. The ban was subsequently lifted.

Although Muslims in Italy almost unanimously say that they would prefer to see schools and courtrooms without Catholic symbols, many are willing to accept them as part of Italian society.

"Considering the history of Italy, and that most Italians are Catholics, there isn't any problem with the crucifixes, even if they are not our preference," said Mario Scialoja, Italy director of the World Muslim League.

– Reuters
Written at 7:07 AM by Luminaria2112.
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