Author:
Publication: Zenit.org
Date: November 2, 2003
In Wake of Judge's Decision to Bar
Crucifix From School
The court-ordered removal of the
crucifix from a school because it offended a Muslim is evidence of the
West's misinterpretation of the rights of minorities and of the principle
of laicism, says a cardinal.
A judge's decision to remove the
crucifix from the Antonio Silveri nursery and elementary school in the
village of Ofena, at the request of Adel Smith, president of the Union
of Muslims of Italy, was made public Oct. 25.
Italian Minister of Justice Roberto
Castelli has opened an administrative investigation against Judge Mario
Montanaro, since Italian law allows the display of crucifixes in public
places.
Analyzing the issue on Vatican Radio,
Cardinal Roberto Tucci noted that "in present-day Western democracy a certain
tendency is being verified of the dictatorship of minorities."
"Although everyone has the right
to be respected, for example, in the area of religious freedom, it suffices
that there be a minority that is unhappy about something . [so] that in
the name of laicism the voice of many is silenced," he noted Thursday.
This results in the desire "to eliminate
symbols that are important for the culture, in addition to the faith, of
the majority of those who live in the country."
"It is thought that, in order to
respect this minority, the majority must be offended, and I don't think
this is democracy," he added.
For Cardinal Tucci, "it is not true
that laicism excludes the fact that certain things can be recognized as
being in keeping with the sentiments of the majority, which is not just
a majority of believers, but a majority of people who recognize a certain
type of culture which has constituted our country."
He said that there is so much insistence
on individual rights that the rights of intermediary structures of the
society, "which are very important," are forgotten.
"The family exists, as do communities
of believers, structured in churches, in different confessions, which also
have the right to be respected," as they "form part of the people who must
be heard in a democracy," the cardinal said.
"That the state, even while respecting
the right of religious freedom of all, gives special respect to that which
belongs to the historical heritage of our civilization -- Western and Italian
-- does not seem to me to be a violation of laicism," Cardinal Tucci stressed.
The cardinal also stressed that
in Italy, Muslims have their rights respected, unlike Christians in predominantly
Muslim countries.
"We must explain what we believe
in, that we have a religious conception which is different from theirs
in many aspects, and that we have the right to be respected, just as we
respect their religious conceptions," Cardinal Tucci concluded.
