Classrooms? More Like Crossrooms!

Roman Catholicism has dominated Italy’s religious scene for over 1,500 years, and is the religion of choice for the majority of the population today. As such, it has significant sway on the social and political climate, with current Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s electoral campaign having strongly featured traditional themes of Christian faith and the nuclear family — her infamous quote being “Italian, Christian, woman, mother”. Evidently, Catholicism is commonplace in Italian society and there are over 100,000 Catholic Churches in Italy, and 97.17% of the population consists of Baptised Catholics (2020). This prominence of religion manifests itself in a number of ways, one way being symbolism within the classroom. 

The practice of hanging crucifixes in classrooms harks back to Mussolini’s fascist regime, when his 1922 Royal Decree mandated the presence of “the image of the Crucifix” in all primary schools, alongside the national flag and a picture of the King, Vittorio Emmanuele III. Alongside this, Mussolini also made Catholicism a mandatory school subject in order to appease Pope Pius XI, who had initially been hostile towards the regime. At the time, dissent or even disagreement against Fascist rule was outlawed, so families and children accepted the imposition, although the majority wouldn’t have thought it to be an imposition given that Catholicism was far more prevalent than in the 21st century. In the years following the demise of Mussolini and the establishment of the Italian republic, this decree remained in place and met little opposition. 

However, decades later in 2002, one mother vocalised her contentions. Finnish-Italian mother Soile Lautsi took issue with the presence of crucifixes in her children’s classrooms and approached the School Council in Padova. She argued that the presence of a crucifix breached secularism and interfered with freedom of religion. However, the council turned her down and subsequently, she pushed ahead to the Administrative Court of Veneto (the greater region). Here, the Administrative Court found that the presence of crucifixes was acceptable in classrooms. But, Lautsi persevered and appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court. This appeal was a non-success as the Supreme Court judges found that the Administrative Court’s ruling was sound and that the crucifix was symbolic of Italian values that were of Christian origin, but could be broadly followed outside of religion. 

Lautsi only pushed further however, and in 2006 she appealed to the European Courts of Human Rights. In response, in 2009 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the practice was a breach of secularism and inappropriate for non-Catholic schoolchildren. This verdict massively inflamed the Vatican, politicians across party aisles, and much of the Italian government. Strong criticism stemmed from the idea that the crucifix is not just a religious symbol, but one with historical and cultural importance. Indeed, a Garelli survey found that only 11.5% of Italians take issue with displaying crucifixes in public places. 

However, upon the Italian government’s 2011 appeal of the ruling, the European Court of Human Rights ultimately found that while the crucifix is undeniably a form of religious icon, its mere presence on the wall does not sufficiently constitute religious influence on students. This ruling passed fifteen votes to two. This stance was bolstered by a later Supreme Court ruling in 2021, where judges argued that crucifixes are symbolic of “the lived experience of a community and the cultural tradition of a people” — in this case, a schoolteacher had temporarily taken down his classroom’s crucifix for a lesson. 

As of today, crucifixes are no longer mandated in classrooms, however the majority of schools keep up the practice. 

Personally, I find that if the presence of Catholic religious symbols upsets parents, which it may grow to do increasingly more given Italy’s modernising population and increasing immigration, then it makes sense for School Councils to appease families and remove crucifixes in specific cases where they speak up against it.