The decision by the European Court of Human Rights banning crucifixes in Italian classrooms because, according to the same court, they breach the religious rights of children has very understandably been received with astonishment and regret by the Holy See. Indeed, the Italian Catholic Bishops' Conference said it evokes sadness and bewilderment and Archbishop Paul Cremona described it as a new form of censorship.

"The crucifix," explained Fr Federico Lombardi SJ, director of the Holy See Press Office, "has always been a sign of God's offer of love, of union and of welcome for the whole of humanity." Fr Lombardi added: "It is to be regretted that it has come to be considered as a sign of division, of exclusion and of limitation of liberty. It is not this and it is not so in the common feeling of our people."

The ruling rejected arguments by the Italian government that the crucifix was a national symbol of culture, history and identity, tolerance and secularism. The court argued that the presence of the crucifix could easily be interpreted by pupils of all ages as a religious sign and they would feel they were being educated in a school environment bearing the stamp of a given religion. It maintained that secular, state-run schools must observe confessional neutrality in the context of public education, where attendance is compulsory.

The Italian government plans to appeal the decision.

The Holy See deemed it astonishing that a European Court should intervene weightily in a matter profoundly linked to the historical, cultural and spiritual identity of the Italian people. The Church considered particularly grave what Fr Lombardi described as the desire to set aside from the educational world a fundamental sign of the importance of religious values in Italian history and culture. The spokesman argued that religion makes a precious contribution to a person's formation and moral growth and is an essential component of our civilisation: "It is mistaken and myopic to want to exclude it from the educational realm."

A big risk appears to have surfaced, one that must be addressed carefully: Decisions like the one in question do not encourage a person to love and share ever more the European idea, even if these are among those who have strongly supported it since its origins.

The Holy See spokesman said it seems there is a desire to ignore the role of Christianity in the formation of European identity, which instead has been and remains essential. On the local front, Mgr Cremona viewed the matter as the consequence of a European ideology that wanted to remove all expression of religion, whatever that religion may be.

The long-term implications of the ruling appear unclear as yet but implications it is likely to have. Such a decision is considered by legal sources as generally binding on the respondent state but other signatory states retain a political discretion as to whether to get in line with the Court's judgment. However, there is no legal obligation for other member states to do so, even if the judgment of the Court will, when it becomes final, be a precedent that may be claimed by any person against any state that is a member of the Council of Europe. One augurs that the final outcome would allow states to retain their right to decide for themselves what place the crucifix should have in public places, whether state schools or any other institution, according to the nation's identity.