No. This is a parochially American view of the law, infected by the Pavlovian reflex ACLU infected us with.
Italy may not be a Catholic country constitutionally, but it is a predominantly Catholic country. This is all we need to know. Where do these cretins in the Hague (or is it Brussels) got their power to dictate what is or is not to happen in Italy?
Those who don’t want to look at a crucifux are free to have a privete school without one, are they not?
Article 7 [Relation between State and Church]
(1) State and catholic church are, each within their own reign, independent and sovereign.
(2) Their relationship is regulated by the lateran pacts. Amendments to these pacts which are accepted by both parties do not require the procedure of constitutional amendments.
Article 8 [Religion]
(1) Religious denominations are equally free before the law.
(2) Denominations other than catholicism have the right to organize themselves according to their own by-laws, provided they do not conflict with the italian legal system.
(3) Their relationship with the state is regulated by law, based on agreements with their representatives.
Lateran Treaty
Negotiations for the settlement of the Roman Question began in 1926 between the government of Italy and the Holy See, and in 1929 they culminated in the agreements of the three Lateran Accords, signed for King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy by Prime Minister Benito Mussolini and for Pope Pius XI by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri. The agreements were signed in the Lateran Palace, hence the name by which they are known.
The agreements included a political treaty which created the state of the Vatican City and guaranteed full and independent sovereignty to the Holy See. The Pope was pledged to perpetual neutrality in international relations and to abstention from mediation in a controversy unless specifically requested by all parties. The concordat established Catholicism as the religion of Italy. The financial agreement was accepted as settlement of all the claims of the Holy See against Italy arising from the loss of temporal power in 1870.
To commemorate the successful conclusion of the negotiations, Mussolini commissioned the Via della Conciliazione (Road of the Conciliation), which would symbolically link the Vatican City to the heart of Rome.
The Lateran Agreements were incorporated into the Constitution of the Italian Republic in 1947.
In 1984 an agreement was signed, revising the concordat. Among other things, it ended the Church's position as the state-supported religion of Italy, replacing the state financing with a personal income tax called the otto per mille.
Italy may not be a Catholic country constitutionally, but it is a predominantly Catholic country. This is all we need to know.
No, it is not all we need to know. We need to know the terms of the Lateran Treaty and the change to the status of the Church in 1984.
Those who don’t want to look at a crucifux are free to have a privete school without one, are they not?
That's not the point. This is the Law in Italy, which is similar to that of the US pertaining to religion. As I said previously, it's simple. Change the law and the Constitutions of the country and each state or province within it to make Catholicism the state religion, and the country may install Crucifixes on every building and in every classroom. First, though, you must give to Caesar the law, then you may have Caesar give to God. You want crucifixes in every classroom in the US? Do the same here. I find no objection to the crucifix; we have them liberally distributed around our house and motor vehicles, as well as a holy water font beside the front door.
But the laws of the land are different from how I conduct affairs in my home.