R0ME (CNS): A judge in central Italy set off a debate involving Catholics, Muslims and politicians after he ordered the removal of crucifixes from classrooms in an elementary school.
A judge at L’Aquila, Mario Montanaro, ruled on October 18 that laws requiring schools to have a crucifix in every classroom showed preference for Catholicism and ignored the role of other religions in society. He gave the elementary school in the town of Ofena 30 days to remove the crucifixes.
The case was started by Adel Smith, the president of the Muslim Union of Italy, whose children attend the Ofena school.
Bishop Giuseppe Betori, who is general secretary of the Italian bishops’ conference, said on October 19 the judge’s decision violated national laws passed in the 1920s that have never been changed by Parliament nor overturned by a constitutional court.
A 1924 law requires every public institution to display the Italian flag and to have a crucifix in every public room. A 1928 law orders each public schoolroom to have a chalkboard, a desk for the teacher, desks for the students and a crucifix.
Mr Smith told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica on October 26, “I was not fighting the crucifix, which is a sacred object for many of my Catholic friends, but against the use and imposition of this symbol.”
