VATICAN WELCOMES COURT’S OK TO CRUCIFIXES IN SCHOOLS

(19.03.2011) The director of the Vatican press office is welcoming today's ruling from the European Court of Human Rights, which found that crucifixes can be displayed in Italy's public schools.Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi said in a statement that the Holy See received the ruling "with satisfaction." He called it historical, noting the widespread opposition to the court's November 2009 decision that the presence of crucifixes in schools was an affront to human rights. Italy was joined by more than 20 countries as well as a number of non-governmental organizations in appealing the '09 ruling. Father Lombardi said that today's decision recognizes "that the culture of the rights of man must not be in opposition to the religious foundations of European civilization, to which Christianity has made an essential contribution." He also lauded application of the principle of subsidiarity, such that the court pointed to a "duty to guarantee every country a margin of appreciation of the value of religious symbols in their own cultural history and in the national identity and of the place of their exposition."