Europe : Italy defends crucifixes in school as a “passive symbol”
Italy, with the support of around ten other countries, appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (CEDH) to reconsider a decision requiring the removal of crucifixes from public schools (see DICI no. 212), which is likely to become statutory law in all 47 member states of the Council of Europe. “The crucifix is a passive symbol unrelated to the teaching, which is secular,” Nicola Lettieri explained before the Court, as cited by Agence France Presse. And so the representative of the Italian government asked the Court, “Where is the indoctrination, and where is the violation of rights? You don’t take children away from the convictions of their parents,” he said, noting that “although the crucifix is the expression of a Christian tradition, Italy is not proselytizing. ” The crucifix is thus considered as a “passive symbol”. Christ’s Passion and Cross is nothing more than the inert sign of a faith that forbids itself to proselytize at all.
In a decision handed down in November 2009, which stirred up strong sentiments, the CEDH had ruled the presence of crucifixes in Italian public schools “contrary to the right of parents to educate their children according to their convictions and to the right of children to freedom of religion and of thought”. Rome had immediately disputed that ruling, as well as several other countries such as Poland, Slovakia, Austria…. The decision of the judges in Strasbourg is expected in autumn. (Sources : apic/AFP – DICI no. 219 dated July 24, 2010)
