Italian Mayors Order Crufixes Put in Classrooms in Revolt against European Court Ruling

LifeSite ^ | November 17, 2009 | Hilary White

[NYer]

ROME, November 17, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Poland's president, Lech Kaczynski and the leadership of the Greek Orthodox Church have both hit out at a decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) attempting to ban the display of crucifixes in Italian public schools. At the same time, a general revolt against the ruling in municipalities all over Italy has been started by public officials, who are now ordering the display of crucifixes in schools, and levelling fines for non-compliance.

The November 3rd ECHR ruling, made in response to a complaint by an Italian secularist campaigner, said that the display of crucifixes violated the religious rights of pupils.

During Independence Day celebrations on Wednesday in Warsaw, Poland's Kaczynski said that "nobody in Poland will accept the message that you can't hang crosses in schools."

"One shouldn't count on that. Perhaps elsewhere, but never in Poland," Kaczynski said.

The reaction from Poland has touched a national nerve in a country where crucifixes and other religious symbols were banned under the atheistic communist rule and are now a prominent symbol of national sovereignty.

Lech Walesa, the former president and leader of the Solidarity movement that eventually freed Poland from its Soviet-controlled communist dictatorship, challenged the court ruling in a TV interview Thursday, saying, "We must respect minorities but also protect the rights of the majority."

At the same time, Archbishop Ieronymos, the Archbishop of Athens and primate of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Greece has also spoken out, urging all Europeans to oppose the ruling, saying the court is ignoring the role of Christianity in forming Europe's identity. The Greek Church has intervened in the case in response to a Greek citizen whose son is studying in Italy, the BBC reports.

The reactions from Greece and Poland reflect the warning made recently by UK legal expert Neil Addison, who told LifeSiteNews.com that, because of the intricacies of European Union law, the Italian crucifix ruling is likely ultimately to affect all 27 member states.

Addison, an author and expert on anti-discrimination law, said that if the Italian government loses their appeal, the ruling could result in the enforced exclusion of all public displays of Christian symbols all over Europe. Addison specifically warned that in countries like Greece and Cyprus, the common display of icons in public places would be under threat.

In fact, since the November 3rd ruling was announced, a secularist activist group in Greece, the Greek Helsinki Monitor, has called for a similar ruling to be applied to that country. The group is urging trade unions to challenge the presence of religious symbols in Greek schools.

The BBC reports that the Orthodox Church plans to hold an emergency Holy Synod to hash out a plan to oppose the ruling.

Meanwhile, Italian papers are reporting a general revolt across the country against the Strasburg ruling. All schools in the League Monza in the Lombardy region, have been given seven days to ensure that crucifixes are displayed in every classroom. The mayor of Besana in Brianza, Vittorio Gatti, signed an order levelling a €150 fine for non-compliance.

Mayor Gatti said, "We will give principals time to adjust, but then the order will be respected."

In a statement published on the municipality's website, the mayor referred to the ECHR decision, saying, "We believe that the crucifix is a symbolic expression in Italy of the religious origin of such important civic values as tolerance, mutual respect, enhancement of the person, freedom, solidarity and rejection of any discrimination."

"I believe I have decided the right thing. I have always seen crucifixes in schools and I believe we should have respect for our traditions and defend them against those who do not even know what they're talking about," Gatti said.
 
The mayor of Priverno in the province of Latina, Lazio, central Italy, signed an order which provides for the maintenance of crucifixes in classrooms of primary schools throughout the municipality. Mayor Umberto Macci, instructed the municipal police to check that crucifixes are in place, with non-compliance to be fined €500. Citing 1924 and 1927 regulations on school furniture, which provided for the display of crucifixes in schools, the mayor said they are "an expression of fundamental civic values and Italian cultural values."

The mayor of Ascoli Piceno in the in the Marche region near the central east coast, said the crucifix expresses "in a symbolic way, the origin of religious values of the republican constitution. I am referring to freedom, mutual respect, appreciation of the person, solidarity and the rejection of any discrimination."

Mayor Guido Castelli cited state laws that agreed the display of crucifixes in classrooms "does not seem open to criticism over the principle of secularism" of the Italian State.

[darkside321]

They say that the ultimate responsibility for enforcing judgments is the state.

---

so what´s the problem? since for example Italy has agreed that this court is above national law any ruling of this court does actually become Italian law. don´t get me wrong but after this decision it HAS BECOME Italian law which they have to enforce. so if italy refuses to enforce it they would be braking their own law. thats why i said they would “enforce” it without a blink of an eye because simple as long italy doesn´t win a battle in a european court it´s not even their problem any more. in this case official Italian politicians can grieve about the ruling (or as said are free to battle it in a court again) as long as they want to earn some public votes. but they shure know (even if they don´t admit it) that they have no other choice (after all this vote grabing because of the understandable public outrage is done) than to “silently” enforce this law. so yes official Italy will pay and enforce this fine (quite but “voluntary”) of course only if they lose the court battle (which they definitely secretly started as soon the EU court has ruled this way). this is not even buisness of the EU. it would only become buisness of the EU if (officially) Italy really would dare to say no and there for breaking their own law (btw. suprise suprise this was never said, guess why?) we don´t accept this ruling (even if it´s written in our own book of national law) because only then they would have a good chance to really get kicked out of EU (because 26 states are shure not willing that one state destroys everything for what they have worked for in the last 20+ years). But Italy would NEVER let this happen.

[Ro_Thunder]

Not surprisingly, if Texas ever falls, Poland is my country of last resort.

[William Tell 2]

Please cite the source for your suppositions.

[NYer]

Isn’t the cross just a symbol of ancient Roman capital punishment?

The Catholic crucifix is the ultimate symbol of the Catholic Church. The representation of Christ as Redeemer and Savior is the central theme of Christianity. The Catholic crucifix serves as a reminder of Christ’s sacrifice and love for all men. It is used to symbolize the redemption of mankind through Christ’s sacrifice. The Catholic crucifix is the central symbol of the Catholic faith; no Catholic church in the world is without one.

[NYer]

We all know who this very sensitive minority is, don't we?

Actually ... in this instance ... you may be surprised to learn that the immigrant mother wants the crucifix removed because she wants her child raised in a secular culture. That description fits most of contemporary western society, including the US. And, for what it is worth, a young Italian muslim has come to the defense of retaining crucifixes in classrooms.

Young Muslim writer defends crucifixes in Italy

[TASMANIANRED]

Pivotal times we live in.

[NYer]

Excellent observations and commentary!

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Interesting.

I wish school officials in this country had the guts to do what they've done in Italy. Tell the lone secularist who objects to sit down and put a sock in it. When a majority of parents object, then we'll talk.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Isn’t the cross just a symbol of ancient Roman capital punishment?

A cross lacking the corpus of Christ is a lower case "t" the symbol of ancient pagan Rome.

"But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews indeed a stumblingblock, and unto the Gentiles foolishness: But unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God." 1 Corinthians 23-24

[tractorman]

I agree with both of you.
I was just trying to have a little fun with the unbelievers.

[bboop]

Absolutely you must draw a line and stand for what you believe. This latest EU mandate could be the beginning of the end for the EU. What are they going to do — throw Italian Mayors into jails? Whole towns, perhaps? Principals? Fines are nothing compared to standing for what you believe, come what may.

[PapaBear3625]

Being ruled by the wishes of a minority is generally defined as tyranny.