Vatican's fury as court bans crucifixes in Italian classrooms because they 'breach religious rights of children' By Nick Pisa Last updated at 12:38 AM on 04th November 2009 Crucifixes have been banned in Italian schools by a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights. The decision has enraged politicians, with Italy's foreign minister Franco Frattini saying: 'This is a death blow for a Europe of values and rights. 'Europe's roots lie in its Christian identity. At a time when we're trying to bring religions closer, the Christian religion gets whacked. 'The government will appeal.' The case was brought by a Finnish woman, Soile Lautsi, who is married to an Italian. Both are atheists. She had complained that her children had to attend a school in northern Italy which had crucifixes in every room, as laid down in law as a reflection of the country's Roman Catholic heritage. The European court's ruling, which will be enforced in three months, said crucifixes could disturb children who were not Christians. It could force a Europe-wide review of the use of religious symbols in government-run schools. The court rejected arguments by Italy's government that the crucifix was a national symbol of culture, history and identity, tolerance and secularism. And it ordered the Italian government to pay 5000 Euro moral damages to Lautsi. The judgement said that having a crucifix in the 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 has been in the throes of national debate on how to deal with a growing population of immigrants, mostly Muslims, and the court sentence is likely to become another battle cry for the centreright government's policy to restrict newcomers. Education Minister Mariastella Gelmini said having a cross in the classroom was ' a symbol of our tradition.'
This is a lead excerpt. Entire article is online at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1224954/Vaticans-fury-court-banscrucifixes-Italian-classroom-breach-religious-rights-children.html