Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009

European court: No crucifixes in Italian schools

STRASBOURG, France (AP) - Europe's court of human rights says the display of crucifixes in Italian public schools violates religious and education freedoms.

A seven-judge panel sided with a complaint filed by Soile Lautsi, a parent who claimed public schools in her northern Italian town refused to remove the Roman Catholic symbols from classrooms. Lautsi says the crucifixes violated the secular principles the public schools are supposed to uphold.

Tuesday's ruling awarded euro5,000 ($7,390) in damages to Lautsi, which the Italian government is to pay her. It has not ordered Italian authorities to remove the crucifixes.

2009-11-03     13:09:24 GMT

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