The European Court of Human Rights said Thursday it would make a
definitive ruling on March 18 on the display of crucifixes in Italian
schools, in a case that could affect all of Europe.
The court
ruled in November 2009 that the display of crucifixes in Italian schools
breached the rights of non-Catholic families, drawing howls of anger
from Church and political leaders in the staunchly Roman Catholic
country.
Rome appealed the ruling in January 2010 and a new hearing was held in June.
The
court's final ruling could mean that religious symbols would be banned
in all schools in the Council of Europe's 47 member states.
The case was brought by Italian mother Soile Lautsi, whose two children attended a state school near Venice.
She was unhappy crucifixes were present in every classroom and complained to the school.
After
education chiefs refused to remove the crosses, she spent several years
fighting the decision through the Italian courts before taking the case
to the Strasbourg court.
Catholicism was the state religion in
Italy until 1984, and a 1920s ruling ordering the presence of crucifixes
in schools was never abolished.
Pope Benedict XVI said in
December he "appreciated" the Italian government's support in defending
the right to display crucifixes in public schools, saying the crucifix
"speaks to all men of goodwill and as such is not a discriminatory
item."
Italy was backed in the appeal by a dozen other countries
that included Armenia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Lithuania, Malta and
Russia.