Crucifixes in school

last updated 8 January 2015

Rome

A crucifix on the wall in an Italian public kindergarten must come down, an Italian court ruled this week. Most Italian schools sport crucifixes, as a fascist-era law mandating them in schools has never been repealed. But this summer Adel Smith, a Scottish immigrant who converted from Catholicism to Islam, brought a case against the government, saying that such Catholic symbolism was oppressive to his Muslim children. The judge agreed, but many in the Italian government did not. Education Minister Letizia Moratti said that not only should public schools display crosses and crucifixes, but the government should also fund Catholic schools. And President Carlo Ciampi said the crucifix was “a symbol of the values that are at the base of our Italian identity.” Italy is overwhelmingly Catholic.