According to the Christian Science Monitor:
Rome – 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.
This is exactly the kind of problem Pope Benedict has previously criticized: the desire many in Europe have to ignore and reject their cultural roots. What kind of right is it that is being enforced here? Religious liberty, not its elimination, is the human right which must be enforced. Obviously this does not mean one should be forced to adhere to a religious belief or practice. But by denying Italy its rights to display the cross in its schoolrooms, is not a different religious praxis, one which rejects the public display of religion, being enforced?
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