The Crucifix, Italian Classrooms, and the European Court of Human Rights

Does the presence of crucifixes in Italian public school classrooms violate the European Convention on Human Rights? The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights will consider the question in the wake of a panel decision that the presence violated parent’s rights to raise their children and the religious freedom rights of students. See Religion Clause. For a link to the panel decision, Lautsi v. Italy, see here (decision is in French, but press release from the Court about the decision is in English).

The Italian government is arguing that the crucifix goes beyond religion to represent something important in Italian tradition and history. The argument is designed to show that the crucifix is not really religious and, therefore, cannot impinge on religious freedom. When the same issue was presented in Germany, the German court was not impressed with the view that a central symbol of Christianity was not religious. The whole argument rings of hypocrisy. Those who deny the religiosity want to keep the cross in the classroom precisely because they want to maintain a religious atmosphere.