THE TIMES OF INDIA

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2003

Italy divided on the crucifix

AP

ROME: Amid debate over whether to keep crucifixes in Italian classrooms,
President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi argued Monday that the cross is not only a
religious symbol but also a representation of Italian values.

His comments came after numerous Italian politicians and Roman Catholic
Church officials came out against a judge's ruling last week that ordered
crucifixes removed from a regional school.

Italy is a secular state, but a law from the 1920s says schools must display
the cross.

"In my judgment, the crucifix has always been considered not only as a
distinctive sign of a particular religious credo, but above all as a symbol
of the values that are at the base of our Italian identity," said Ciampi,
whose role is largely ceremonial but who holds great moral weight here.

The ruling came after an Islamic activist went to court to have a crucifix
removed from his sons' elementary school in the small town of Ofena, 125 km
northeast of Rome.

Several legal experts have said a 1924 law calls for displaying the crucifix
in schools, and that the judge's ruling was mistaken.

Members of Premier Silvio Berlusconi's conservative coalition as well as
centre-left politicians denounced the judgment.

Some Islamic organizations also opposed it, and tried to distance themselves
from activist Adel Smith of the Muslim Union of Italy, who launched the
suit.

The secretary of the Union of Islamic Communities in Italy, Hamza Roberto
Piccardo, said he didn't approve of having crosses removed from schools, and
told Monday's La Stampa newspaper that Smith didn't represent most Italian
Muslims.

"I have five children who go to school," he said. "I have never asked them
to take down the crucifix."

Italy, a country of 57 million people, has about 1.2 million legal
immigrants, with thousands more arriving illegally every year. One estimate
says there are now 800,000 Muslims in Italy.

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