March 22, 2011

THE Vatican has welcomed a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights on displaying crucifixes in schools.

The Vatican describes as "historic" the ruling that said displaying crucifixes in schools in Italy does not breach the rights of non-Catholics.

"It is an important and historic ruling," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said in a statement, adding: "The sentence... has been welcomed with satisfaction by the Holy See."

The European Court of Human Rights ruled earlier that displaying crucifixes in schools in Italy did not breach the rights of non-Catholic families, overturning a previous decision.

Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini also welcomed the ruling on behalf of the government in Rome, saying: "Today Europe's popular sentiment won out."

The Strasbourg, France-based court initially ruled in November 2009 that displaying crucifixes in schools across Italy breached the rights of non-Catholics, drawing howls of anger from Church and political leaders in the staunchly Roman Catholic country.

In its ruling passed by 15 votes to two, the court said: "While the crucifix was above all a religious symbol, there was no evidence before the court that the display of such a symbol on classroom walls might have an influence on pupils."

The Vatican spokesman said the court had recognised "that the exhibition of the crucifix is not indoctrination but the expression of the cultural and religious identity of countries of a Christian tradition."

It also recognised "that the culture of human rights must not be inconsistent with the religious fundamentals of a European civilisation in which Christianity has made an essential contribution," said Lombardi.

He said the ruling showed "each country is guaranteed a margin of appreciation in the value of religious symbols in its own cultural history and its own national identity."

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