Vatican Secretary of State regrets EU decision against Crucifix

(November 6, 2009) In European schools, crucifixes are prohibited but Halloween pumpkins are promoted. The complaint was made by Vatican Secretary of o State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, in response to Tuesday’s decision by the European Court of Human Rights calling for the removal of Christian symbols from public school classrooms. "This Europe of the third millennium only leaves us the pumpkins of the feasts repeatedly celebrated and takes away from us our most cherished symbols," said the cardinal in an article published in L'Osservatore Romano. He regretted: "It is really a loss. We must try with all our strength to preserve the signs of our faith for those who believe and those who do not believe." After expressing his appreciation for the initiative of the Italian government to appeal against the decision of the European judges, the prelate stated that the crucifix is the "symbol of universal love, not of exclusion, but of acceptance."