By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
In a stunning reversal of a lower court ruling, the “Grande Chambre” of the European Court of Human Rights ruled on Friday that crucifixes in public school classrooms in Italy do not violate a student’s freedom of conscience.
The Canadian Press is reporting that the ruling overturned a lower court decision in Italy that ruled in favor of an atheist couple who objected to the presence of crucifixes in their children’s classrooms. The couple argued that the crucifixes violated the secular principles public schools are supposed to uphold.
The ensuing debate divided Europe’s traditional Catholic and Orthodox countries from their more secular neighbours that observe a strict separation between church and state.
Initially, the European Court of Human Rights sided with the mother, but Italy appealed the ruling, supported by more than a dozen countries including the late Pope John Paul II’s predominantly Catholic Poland, and won.
The court ruled that crucifixes were not a form of indoctrination but rather “an expression of the cultural and religious identity of traditionally Christian countries.
It also ruled that Ms. Soile Lautsi, who brought the case with her husband Massimo Albertin, “had retained in full her right as a parent to enlighten and advise her children and to guide them on a path in line with her own philosophical convictions.”
Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi said the ruling “has been received with satisfaction” by the Holy See and said it acknowledged “that the culture and rights of man should not be placed in contradiction with the religious foundations of European civilisation, to which Christianity has made an essential contribution. It is furthermore recognised that, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, each country should be guaranteed a margin of appreciation with regard to the value of religious symbols within its cultural history and national identity, and in terms of the places in which they are displayed . . . .
“By contrast, in the name of religious freedom there is a paradoxical tendency to limit or indeed even to deny this freedom, with the result of excluding every expression of it from public spaces. Thus this very freedom itself is violated, obscuring specific and legitimate identities. The Court therefore declares that the display of the crucifix is not a form of indoctrination, but rather an expression of the cultural and religious identity of countries with a Christian tradition.”
Albertin told the press on Friday that his family was disappointed and “disillusioned” by the ruling and said it showed that the court didn’t respect the principles on which Italian society is built.
“Freedom of religion, freedom from discrimination, freedom of choice are fundamental principles and in this case they weren’t respected,” he said.
A self-described atheist, Albertin said he didn’t think the family had any further recourse, saying the ruling showed “the Vatican is too strong for individuals.”
The children, who were 11 and 13 at the time the case began are now 20 and 22 and in college.
Gregor Puppink, director of the pro-Christian European Center for Law and Justice, believes the Court made the right decision: “The message of the court is that in Christian tradition societies, Christianity has a special legitimacy that can justify a different treatment,” he said.
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