Religion
Italy: Court crucifix 'ban' provokes fiery debate
Rome, 4 Nov. (AKI) - A decision by the European Court of Human Rights opposing the presence of crucifixes in Italian classrooms has provoked a furious response from the Italian government and the Catholic Church. The Italian minister of European affairs, Andrea Ronchi, on Wednesday rejected the decision during an interview on one of the TV channels owned by prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.
"The crucifix will never be taken away, not from any secular place nor from anywhere in our Italy. I think the government should and will appeal this sentence," Ronchi said (photo).
Speaking on the television programme, La Telefonata aired on Canale 5, Ronchi said that the court's controversial verdict was "a symptom, a worrying sign of anti-sprituality in Europe."
The Vatican on Tuesday strongly rejected the ruling, saying it was "wrong and myopic" to exclude a symbol of charity from education.
Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said the European court had no right intervening in such a profoundly Italian issue.
Ronchi was once a member of the former post-fascist, National Alliance, which recently became part of Berlusconi's ruling coalition, the People of Freedom party.
He dismissed the idea of Italy being fined for not following the court's decision.
"I do not think (Italy) can be fined," he said. "However, I believe we could be warned."
The court case was brought by an Italian mother, Soile Lautsi, who wanted to offer her children a secular education in the state system.
Lautsi, from Abano Terme, near the northern city of Padua, had lodged the case to protest against the crucifix at the state school. She was also awarded 5,000 euros in damages.
The Strasbourg court found that: "The compulsory display of a symbol of a given confession in premises used by the public authorities... restricted the right of parents to educate their children in conformity with their convictions."
Opposition politician Emma Bonino from the centre-left Democratic Party and deputy president of the Italian senate told the government not to react angrily at the decision.
"There is no scandal, there is no secular frenzy that inspired the sentence of the European Court in Strasbourg," she told Italian daily, Il Sole 24 Ore.
"There is only the simple confirmation that public places belong to everyone. Secularism is inclusive and respects everyone."
"The crucifix will never be taken away, not from any secular place nor from anywhere in our Italy. I think the government should and will appeal this sentence," Ronchi said (photo).
Speaking on the television programme, La Telefonata aired on Canale 5, Ronchi said that the court's controversial verdict was "a symptom, a worrying sign of anti-sprituality in Europe."
The Vatican on Tuesday strongly rejected the ruling, saying it was "wrong and myopic" to exclude a symbol of charity from education.
Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said the European court had no right intervening in such a profoundly Italian issue.
Ronchi was once a member of the former post-fascist, National Alliance, which recently became part of Berlusconi's ruling coalition, the People of Freedom party.
He dismissed the idea of Italy being fined for not following the court's decision.
"I do not think (Italy) can be fined," he said. "However, I believe we could be warned."
The court case was brought by an Italian mother, Soile Lautsi, who wanted to offer her children a secular education in the state system.
Lautsi, from Abano Terme, near the northern city of Padua, had lodged the case to protest against the crucifix at the state school. She was also awarded 5,000 euros in damages.
The Strasbourg court found that: "The compulsory display of a symbol of a given confession in premises used by the public authorities... restricted the right of parents to educate their children in conformity with their convictions."
Opposition politician Emma Bonino from the centre-left Democratic Party and deputy president of the Italian senate told the government not to react angrily at the decision.
"There is no scandal, there is no secular frenzy that inspired the sentence of the European Court in Strasbourg," she told Italian daily, Il Sole 24 Ore.
"There is only the simple confirmation that public places belong to everyone. Secularism is inclusive and respects everyone."
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