National
Spanish Bishops attack EU Court over crucifixes in the classroom
By h.b. - Nov 6, 2009 - 6:03 PM
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Photo EFE
It comes as Burlusconi in Italy has said the crosses will stay
Spanish bishops have attacked the recent ruling from the European Court for human rights in Strasbourg, which said that the presence of a crucifix in the classroom was ‘a violation of the rights of parents to educate their children according to their convictions’, and ‘acted against the religious freedom of the pupils’.
The spokesman for the Spanish Bishops, Juan Antonio Martínez Camino, said that the crucifix was a symbol of freedom, and the court’s ruling was ‘Unjust, discriminatory and lamentable’. He said the ruling would do little for the future of Europe, because ‘the crucifix is a symbol of respect for the dignity of the person from his birth until his natural death’.
He went on to ask if the crucifix was removed from Spanish classrooms, what would replace it, claiming that ‘the human being cannot exist without symbols’.
The comments in Spain come as Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Burlusconi, said on Friday that Italy would ignore the European ruling, and that crucifixes would remain in their schools. He said that there was no possibility of them being forced to remove them.