CRUCIFIXES should be removed from classrooms in Italy, the European Court of Human Rights rules yesterday, sparking uproar in the largely Catholic country.
Vatican officials were said to be "furious"
at the judgment which also ordered the Italian government to pay 5,000 damages to Soile Lautsi, an atheist, who had brought the complaint on behalf of her children.
The court ruled having a crucifi
x in a classroom was a "violation of the right to parents to educate children as to their own wishes and a violation of liberty of religion of pupils".
Italy immediately said that it would appeal against the ruling – which will be enforced in three months. Education minister Mariastella Gelmini said having a cross in the classroom was "a symbol of our tradition".
All Italian classrooms were ordered to have crucifixes under a law introduced by fascist dictator Benito Mussolini in 1924, which, despite several challenges, has stood since.
Mrs Lautsi, a Finn living in Italy, said that she felt having a crucifix in the class where her children Dataico, 11, and Sami Albertin, 13, were taught was a "violation of their freedom" and of "right to freedom of religion".
The eight-year case centred on a state primary school in Abano Terme near Padua in northern Italy. She took the complaint to Strasbourg after her local court threw it out.
Yesterday, in a 16-page decision, the seven judges of the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled: "The presence of the crucifix could easily be interpreted by pupils of all ages as a religious sign and they would feel that they were being educated in a school environment bearing the stamp of a given religion.
"This could be encouraging for religious pupils, but also disturbing for pupils who practised other religions or were atheists, particularly if they belonged to religious minorities."
It added: "The court was unable to grasp how the display, in classrooms in state schools, of a symbol that could reasonably be associated with Catholicism could serve the educational pluralism essential to the preservation of a democratic society."
A Vatican spokesman said: "We will look at the judgment before making comment." A source said: "This goes completely against the grain and we are furious at this decision." Italy's powerful bishops' conference said the ruling "evokes sadness and bewilderment". Conservative Catholic politicians were also furious, with agriculture minister Luca Zaia of the Northern League calling it "shameful" and a member of prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom Party, Antonio Mazzocchi, saying that Europe was "forgetting its Christian heritage".
Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of Benito, said: "This is a bid to erase our Christian roots. They are trying to create a Europe without identity and tradition."
Even Paola Binetti, a Catholic in the opposition Democratic Party, the successor of what was once Europe's largest communist party, said: "The crucifix is a specific sign of our tradition."
Crucifixes are common in Italian public buildings despite the postwar constitution's separation of church and state. In practice, with Catholicism being such a part of Italy's cultural identity, local bodies decide whether they want crosses in schools and courthouses, and most do.
Last night, speaking from the home near Padua she shares with husband Massimo Albertin, Soile Lautsi said: "This is the first sign of victory in a battle that has been going on for many years.
"The reasons then are the same as now – although the situation in Italy has worsened. It sounds as if the court agreed with us. We are very satisfied."
