Crucifixes in classrooms: Italians grapple with secularism
A court in Rome must decide if teachers have the right to remove the crucifix from their classrooms in the name of freedom of conscience
An Italian high school teacher continues to wage a legal battle against his employer after being suspended in 2014 for removing the crucifix from his classroom.
Franco Coppoli, who teaches literature and history in the Umbrian city of Terni, says he should have "the freedom not to teach under a religious symbol".
The 56-year-old professor was suspended for a month without pay in 2015 for not respecting the rules and the will of the majority of students.
But being an active member of the Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics (UAAR), Coppoli took the case to court.
After losing the first trial and the initial appeal, he then took his case to Italy’s supreme court.
It is expected to render a decision this month in chambers -- a sign of the sensitivity of the issue -- on whether displaying the crucifix violates the teacher's freedom of education and conscience.
The presence of the crucifix in public schools has been a recurring point of tension in modern Italy’s ever growing move towards secularism.
“The power of the Catholic religion”
A royal decree of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia that dates back to 1860 is the basis for displaying the religious symbol in public places such as schools, hospitals and police stations.
"The crucifix has a symbolic and highly educational function," said Bishop Stefano Russo, secretary general of the Italian Episcopal Conference.
"It embodies the power of the Catholic religion and the privileges it enjoys in our country," countered Roberto Grendene, president of UAAR.
He takes a dim view of the Vatican's recent attempt to modify a decree against homophobia, as well as the tax exemptions on the Church's important property holdings on the peninsula.
Religious tolerance
Secularism does not appear in the Italian constitution, which dates from 1948. However, it says Church and State are independent and sovereign.
Secularism was only established as a "supreme principle of the constitutional order" in 1989.
Until the revision of the 1929 Lateran Treaty in 1984 by the socialist government of Bettino Craxi, Catholicism was still Italy’s state religion.
"A series of historical reasons explains our different conception of secularism," said Marilisa D'Amico, professor of constitutional law at the University of Milan.
"In France, it is negative, in Italy, positive: religion can enter the public space. It is seen as a confirmation of secularism and religious tolerance," she said.
Separate agreements with the various faiths
"Wearing the veil is allowed without problem in schools, universities and workplaces," explained Yassine Lafram, president of the Union of Islamic Organizations and Communities of Italy.
"We would not go and ask for the display of the crescent in classrooms; we would fall into a war of symbols. Besides, we have nothing against the crucifix: it is part of the Italian identity," he noted.
The state's relationship with other faiths besides Catholicism is determined by agreements with their respective representatives.
The Waldensian Church signed a pact in 1984, the Jewish community in 1987, the Buddhists and the Hindus in 2007.
Muslims, who represent 4.2% of the Italian population, have not yet signed such an agreement.
"We have been asking for it for years in order to justify the absence of students on the last day of Ramadan, to be able to put halal menus in cafeterias, to provide spiritual assistance to our believers in hospitals," Lafram explained.
"The political will is missing. The wave of terrorist attacks has not helped," he added.
The anger passes quickly
In the end, secularism is little debated among Italians.
"Some, like me, envy French secularism, but the majority is resigned to the idea that, since the Vatican is on our territory, its supremacy is normal, inevitable," points out Grendene, the UAAR president.
Italians get angry when the Holy See writes a note to try to influence the law against homophobia, or when Matteo Salvini, the leader of the League, kisses his rosary in a meeting or press conference.
But the anger passes quickly.
This is especially so given that Benedict XVI and Francis are much less interventionist than John Paul II on questions of morality and bioethics.
The Church often gives reminders about its values, but generally does not seek to impose them.
But the debate over secularism could be revived if Professor Coppoli wins his latest legal battle to be able to keep the crucifix out of his classroom.