|
Italian court ban on crucifix in school sparks fury
By Estelle Shirbon
Reuters (26.10.2003)/ HRWF Int. (28.10.2003) C Website: http://www.hrwf.net/ - Email: info@hrwf.net - Italian government ministers and cardinals lined up to defend the presence of crucifixes in Italy's classrooms Sunday after a judge ruled that a school should remove crosses from its walls.
Acting on a complaint from Adel Smith, a Muslim activist who did not want his two children to see crucifixes at their primary school, a court in the central city of L'Aquila said Saturday the symbols had to go.
The judge wrote that the crucifixes "show the state's unequivocal will to place Catholicism at the center of the universe... in public schools, without the slightest regard for the role of other religions in human development."
The ruling caused fury among religious authorities and many politicians in a country that has officially split Church from state but remains deeply attached to its Roman Catholic roots.
"This is an outrageous decision that should be overturned as quickly as possible. It is unacceptable that one judge should cancel out millennia of history," said Labor Minister Roberto Maroni Sunday.
Justice Minister Roberto Castelli said he would order an inquiry into whether the decision conformed with Italian law, threatening sanctions if it did not.
Two laws stating that schools must display crucifixes date from the 1920s, when Italy was a monarchy and the Fascists were in power, and are still technically in effect.
But since 1984, when Roman Catholicism ceased being state religion under a new concordat with the Vatican, the laws have not been strictly enforced. Some teachers have removed crucifixes from school walls while many others have left them.
Constitutional right
"How can anyone order the removal from classrooms of a symbol of the basic values of our country? This ruling offends the majority of Italians," said Cardinal Ersilio Tonini.
Smith, whose complaint about crucifixes launched the court case, defended the ruling. "Italy is not the Vatican," he told daily La Repubblica.
"I have no fight with the crucifix... I have simply been granted a constitutional right that religious symbols should not be on display in the classroom where my children study."
Some left-leaning union leaders voiced support, saying the removal of crucifixes from schools would help integrate children of other faiths and fight discrimination.
"It is a brave and modern decision," said Armando Catalano, leader of the education branch of the powerful CGIL union.
It is not the first time the issue of crucifixes in schools has caused controversy. Last year, Education Minister Letizia Moratti proposed that it should be obligatory to display crucifixes in classrooms, public offices and train stations.
Jewish and Muslim leaders expressed horror at the proposals, which have not been approved.
Single mother barred from teaching religion
Reuters (27.02.2003)/ HRWF Int. (04.03.2003) - Website http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - Schools have the right to bar single mothers from teaching religion, the highest court in Roman Catholic Italy said Wednesday.
It ruled that a Florence school was entitled to block a young woman from teaching religious studies because she had fallen pregnant out of wedlock.
"Teaching religion... has to conform to the doctrine of the Church, so the suitability of the teachers has to be recognized by the ecclesiastical authorities," the court ruling said.
Italy is a predominantly Roman Catholic country and the Church still exerts great authority over many aspects of life.
Church's taxation enrages Italians
by Bruce Johnston
The London Sunday Telegraph (12.01.2003)/ HRWF Int. (13.01.2003) - Website http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net -The people and politicians of a Tuscan village are in revolt against their bishop after he reinstated a medieval church property tax at heavy new levels.
In protest, many devout Roman Catholics are boycotting Mass and withholding collection payments.
The bills began arriving over Christmas at the homes of hundreds of property owners in Terricciola, a picturesque village of 4,000 people that sits in rolling, vine-covered hills near Pisa. Many are for large sums, some as high as $2,000.
The diocese of Volterra insists that the money is needed to pay for repairs to the parish church of San Donato and has made it clear that it expects it to be paid.
The white-stuccoed, neoclassical church, built in the 18th century, dwarfs the tiny, brick winemaking village of Etruscan origins with its turreted walls.
The tax, which is levied on the produce of the land, is a perpetual duty passed down from owner to owner. Italian case law has established that it can be enforced by the courts, even if it falls into disuse.
It previously amounted to an insignificant, fixed share of a farmer's produce for example, a sack of wheat, a demijohn of wine or a nominal sum of money. The taxes have, however, been converted into monetary levies and revalued by the church at amounts it says better reflect modern property values.
Terricciola Mayor Giacomo Sanavio, a fierce opponent of the tax, presided over a heated village meeting last week. He promised to hold talks with the diocese to urge it to allow villagers to buy themselves free of their duty. He is particularly angry that the council has been sent a bill for school land.
"We in the administration are a little annoyed," he said. "We disagree with the church's new yardstick of revaluation being used, which is confusing and arbitrary, and which penalizes land with buildings." He said owners of some properties who gave a sack of wheat as tax are now expected to pay about $2,000.
Village resident Luciano Londi, 60, said he was billed $330 for his orchard, which he inherited from his grandmother.
"When I was little, every year she would set aside some firewood. 'It's the tithe, boy,' she would say. I didn't know what she meant. I have understood now."
During the main service in Terricciola on New Year's Day, the Rev. Ugo Cecchini railed from his pulpit at those complaining about the tithe. But his admonishments fell on deaf ears, as most parishioners had boycotted his service. Many have since refused to set foot in the church, and some are threatening to abandon the diocese for that of Pisa. Others say they are suspending their voluntary donations.
"Let the priest go and ring his bells," said one defiant parishioner, Piernello Tognetti. "I haven't gone to Mass and I won't pay the tax," he added. "What are they going to do, excommunicate me? Let them."
Bishop Mansueto Bianchi has tried to defuse the row by explaining that the tax was originally and freely contracted by property owners as an annual contribution to the church.
Terricciola's parish priest, the Rev. Carino Guidi, did not mince his words, however. "Those enjoying the fruits of the land must pay without further ado," he said. "Where's the scandal? The church is only asking its lawful due according to the laws of man, not God."
|
