(Adds Archbishop's reaction, question in Parliament)
The European Court of Human Rights ruled today that Italian schools should remove crucifixes from classrooms, sparking uproar in Italy, where such icons are embedded in the national psyche.
"This is an abhorrent ruling," said Rocco Buttiglione, a former culture minister who helped write papal encyclicals.
"It must be rejected with firmness. Italy has its culture, its traditions and its history. Those who come among us must understand and accept this culture and this history," he said.
The court (which is the court of the Council of Europe, not the EU) said crucifixes on school walls, a common sight that is part of every Italian's life, could disturb children who were not Christians. Italy has said it would appeal.
Italy has been in the throes of national debate on how to deal with a growing population of immigrants, mostly Muslims, and the court sentence is likely to become another battle cry for the centre-right government's policy to restrict newcomers.
The Vatican spokesman said he would not comment until he knew more about the ruling but Italy's powerful bishops' conference said the ruling "evokes sadness and bewilderment".
Members of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government bristled, weighing in with words such as "shameful", "offensive", "absurd," "unacceptable," and "pagan".
MORTAL BLOW
Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said the court has dealt a "mortal blow to a Europe of values and rights," adding that it was a bad precedent for other countries.
Condemnation crossed party lines. Paola Binetti, a Catholic in the opposition Democratic Party, the successor of what was once the West's largest communist party, said: "In Italy, the crucifix is a specific sign of our tradition."
The case was brought by an Italian national, Soile Lautsi, who complained that her children had to attend a public school in northern Italy which had crucifixes in every room.
Education Minister Mariastella Gelmini said crucifixes on the walls of tens of thousands of classrooms "does not mean adherence to Catholicism" but are a symbol of Italy's heritage.
"The history of Italy is marked by symbols and if we erase symbols we erase part of ourselves," Gelmini said.
Lautsi, the woman who filed the suit, said crucifixes on walls ran counter to her right to give her children a secular education and the Strasbourg-based court ruled in her favour.
"The presence of the crucifix ... could be encouraging for religious pupils, but also disturbing for pupils who practised other religions or were atheists, particularly if they belonged to religious minorities," the court said in a written ruling.
"The State (must) refrain from imposing beliefs in premises where individuals were dependent on it," it added, saying the aim of public education was "to foster critical thinking".
"JESUS DOESN'T BOTHER ME"
At least one Muslim girl disagreed with the court.
"If the crucifix is there and I am a Muslim I will continue to respect my religion. Jesus in the classroom doesn't bother me," Zenat, a 14-year-old girl of Egyptian origin, told Reuters Television.
Mario Baccini, a senator in Berlusconi's People of Freedom party, said the court had "gone adrift in paganism".
Two Italian laws dating from the 1920s, when the Fascists were in power, state that schools must display crucifixes.
Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, said such rulings were leading to "a Europe without an identity".
Only a handful of politicians defended the court, including some members of the Democratic Party, as well as members of the communist party and atheist groups.
ARCHBISHOP PAUL CREMONA'S REACTION
Archbishop Paul Cremona said that should this situation arise in Malta one day, it would be his duty to insist, along with Maltese Christians, that the crucifix should retain its place in public places.
A spokesman for the curia said it was still early to comment on the decision as the judgement could be appealed.
ISSUE RAISED IN PARLIAMENT
Opposition MP Alfred Sant this evening raised the issue in Parliament and asked if the government had a reaction. The Acting Speaker, Carmelo Abela, however, said the question could not be raised at that time.