Speechless.
Full story here, bits below.
A crucifix on a classroom wall in Rome. Photograph: Tony Gentile/Reuters
There was uproar in Italy today over a ruling by the European court of human rights that the crucifixes that hang in most Italian classrooms are a violation of religious and educational freedoms.
The seven judges, whose decision could prompt a Europe-wide review of the use of religious symbols on public premises, said state schools had to “observe confessional neutrality”.
Except on the far left, the ruling met with condemnation among Italian politicians and was denounced by the Vatican. Silvio Berlusconi’s education minister, Maria Stella Gelmini, said: “No one, not even some ideologically motivated European court, will succeed in rubbing out our identity.”
A Vatican spokesman, 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.
A European court had no right intervening in such a profoundly Italian matter, he said, adding: “It seems as if the court wanted to ignore the role of Christianity in forming Europe’s identity, which was and remains essential.”
Classroom crucifixes were made compulsory by two laws in the 1920s when Italy was a fascist state.
They have been applied less rigorously since 1984, when Catholicism ceased to be the state religion.
One government minister, Roberto Calderoli, of the Northern League, said yesterday: “The European court has trodden on our rights, our culture, our history, our traditions and our values.”
Claudio Scajola, a member of Berlusconi’s Freedom People party, said: “The crucifix is a universal symbol of love, meekness and peace. Preventing it from being displayed is an act of violence against the deep-seated feelings of the Italian people and all persons of goodwill.”
The mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, said he was flabbergasted. And the new, ex-communist leader of Italy’s biggest opposition group, the Democratic party, Pierluigi Bersani, protested: “An ancient tradition like the crucifix cannot be offensive to anyone.”
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