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Public schools (in Italy) can display crucifix when decided democratically, court rulesROME (CNS) — Italy’s highest court of appeal has ruled that public school classrooms can approve the presence of the crucifix because it does not discriminate against anyone.The court specified, however, that all religious symbols can also be “welcomed” as long as it is decided in a democratic, civil and “gentle” manner by students and faculty together.That means, it said, all decisions regarding their presence must never be imposed and must seek “reasonable accommodation” between the different positions or convictions of people in the school community that includes respecting...

Rome, Italy, Jul 24, 2018 / 12:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A bill has been introduced in the Italian parliament which would require the visible display of crucifixes in public buildings, Italian news magazine L’Espresso reported Monday. The bill, “Dispositions concerning the display of the crucifix in schools and in offices of public administration,” proposes crucifixes be visibly hung in places such as schools, universities, prisons, public offices, consulates, embassies, and ports. The proposal would also order a fine of up to 1,000 euros ($1,169) for non-compliance. The bill now waits to be scheduled for discussion in the Chamber and Senate....

(NEW YORK) -- (PRNewswire-USNewswire) -- At a press conference today in front of Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, Charles Kernaghan, director of the National Labor Committee, released a 73-page report documenting the brutal sweatshop conditions under which crucifixes are made for Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Trinity Church and the Association for Christian Retail at the Junxingye factory in Southern China. Holding up a crucifix made in the Junxingye factory and sold at Saint Patrick's and Trinity, Kernaghan said, "This crucifix was made by young women -- several just 15 and 16 years of age -- who were forced to...

Displaying crucifixes in schools in Italy does not breach the rights of non-Catholic families, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled.

Italians reacted with outrage on Tuesday after a European court ruled that displaying crucifixes in the country's schools violated the principle of secular education. Italy's education minister condemned the judgment by the European Court of Human Rights, saying that the Christian cross was a symbol of the country's Roman Catholic religion and cultural identity. Mariastella Gelmini, a member of the conservative government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, argued that "no one, and certainly not an ideological European court, will succeed in erasing our identity," Other ministers said they were appalled by the ruling, calling it "absurd," "shameful" and "offensive." Generations...

ROME – The Vatican has denounced a ruling by the European court of human rights that said the display of crucifixes in Italian public schools violates religious and educational freedoms. Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi says the crucifix is a "fundamental sign of the importance of religious values" in Italian history and culture. He says the European court had no right intervening in such a profoundly Italian matter .. .. In Strasbourg, France, on Tuesday ordered Italy to pay a euro5,000 ($7,390) fine to a mother who wanted crucifixes removed from her children's classrooms. The Italian government said it...

Air crew ordered not to wear crucifixes on flights to Saudi By Matt Barnwell (Filed: 09/01/2006) Air crew on the only British airline that flies to Saudi Arabia have been told not to wear crucifixes or St Christopher medals on flights there so as not to offend the country's Muslims. Stewardesses at BMI have also been told to cover themselves in the long abaya robes that Saudi women have to wear in public before they disembark in the capital Riyadh. In some instances, they are also advised to wear a headscarf. The airline insists that the rules are part of...

08/15/2005 - 11:09 Crucifixes in government buildings "It is important that God is present in public life, with the sign of the cross, in homes and public buildings," the Italian news agency ANSA quoted Pope Benedict XVI has backed the display of crucifixes in public buildings, saying that God should be present in public life. "It is important that God is present in public life, with the sign of the cross, in homes and public buildings," the Italian news agency ANSA quoted the pontiff as saying during his homily in a parish church in Castel Gandolfo, the hill town outside...

In the first class of the semester, a Georgetown professor called the crucifixes that hang upon the walls in every classroom “weaknesses that look down upon us.” He said this during class, before all his students. No one said a word to him, not even after class. All were silent as Christ was mocked and Christianity denigrated. Crucifixes are not “weaknesses.” The crucifixion is a sign of strength. For a man to stand up for what he believes, even to the point of a brutal death, is remarkable and deserving of the highest praise. Professors can very easily get up...

Pope John Paul II has urged believers to proudly display the signs of their faith, saying the practice does not encourage intolerance or infringe on the separation of church and state. In an apostolic letter to Roman Catholics launching the Year of the Eucharist, the pope made no mention of specific problems. But the message follows sharp controversy in France over a government ban on conspicuous religious symbols such as Muslim headscarves, Jewish skullcaps or large crucifixes in the country's schools. The pontiff also repeated his concern that too few Catholics are giving due reverence to the Eucharist or properly...

Gaining inspiration: Man feels closer to God making crucifixes By Jeff Adair/ Staff Writer Friday, September 17, 2004 Gil Burns holds two crucifixes that he made out of nails. (Staff photo by Dave Rains) On his 50th of 105 missions piloting a P-47 Thunderbolt striking German targets and giving air support to ground troops during World War II, Gilbert Burns found religion. That often happens when a person stares at death and is given a second chance on life. "I was hit by a flak. I thought I was dead," says Burns, 82, whose memories of that fateful day, Feb....

ROME - A major story has exploded into the headlines here in Italy. Two days ago, a court in Aquila (in the central Italian region of Abruzzo) issued a judgment that all Crucifixes must be removed from elementary school classrooms in the town of Ofena. The judgment came in a lawsuit filed by one Adel Smith (a male), head of the Italian Muslim Union. The decision has triggered a storm of outrage from politicians, civic leaders and the Conferenza Episcopale Italiana (CEI), the Italian bishops’ conference. A review of newspaper accounts of the national protest against the decision reveals, not...

A Muslim rights advocate has scored a victory over the Catholic Church and conservative Italians, winning a court ruling that will remove crucifixes from the state primary school his children attend. "The presence of the symbol of the cross shows the will of the state to put Catholicism at the centre of the universe as the absolute truth," Judge Mario Montanaro ruled in the central town of L'Aquila. A concordat with the Vatican confirmed in 1984 that Catholicism was no longer the state religion. And laws introduced in 1920s fascist Italy, making crucifixes mandatory in classrooms, have been interpreted loosely...