Religion In Italy

(ANSA) - Rome, November 3 - Tuesday's European Court of Human Rights ruling against crosses in Italian classrooms was biased, the Italian Bishops Conference (CEI) said.

''On the basis of a first reading, it appears to be possible to detect...a biased and ideological view,'' CEI said in a statement.

Earlier, the Vatican said it would wait to examine the Court's explanation for its ruling before reacting. photo: CEI head Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco

(ANSA) - Marrakech, November 3 - The European Court of Human Rights ruling that crosses in Italian classrooms flout religious freedom is a ''death blow for a Europe of values and rights,'' Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Tuesday.

Frattini said Europe's roots lay in its ''Christian identity''.

He added that Tuesday's ruling was ''a very bad precedent for other religions''.

''At a time when we're trying to bring religions closer, the Christian religion gets whacked''.

(ANSA) - Vatican City, November 3 - A European court ruling barring crosses from Italian classrooms is ''irresponsible,'' a top Italian bishop said Tuesday.

''It is really irresponsible to want to cancel...the cultural and educational weight'' of the crucifix, said Msgr Vincenzo Paglia, head of the Italian bishops' intercultural dialogue commission.

The European Court of Human Rights upheld a suit from a Finnish-born Italian citizen Tuesday, saying the crosses in her children's classrooms flouted freedom of religion.

(ANSA) - Rome, November 3 - Italy said Tuesday it would appeal a landmark European ruling against crucifixes in classrooms.

A successful appeal would lead to Tuesday's ruling being reconsidered, state judge Nicola Lettieri said, but the verdict will become effective in three months if the appeal is turned down.

The Council of Europe will then have six months to decide what action the Italian government should take to avoid future suits, Lettieri said.

Earlier Tuesday, in its first such ruling, the European Court of Human Rights found that crucifixes in Italian classrooms were a violation of parents' rights to educate their kids according to their principles.

(ANSA) - Vatican City, November 3 - The Vatican said Tuesday it would await the exact wording of a landmark European ruling against crucifixes in classrooms before making a formal response.

''I believe reflection is needed before commenting,'' said Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi.

In its first such ruling, the European Court of Human Rights found that crucifixes in Italian classrooms were a violation of parents' rights to educate their kids according to their principles.

(ANSA) - Strasbourg, November 3 - In a legal landmark that sparked a storm in Italy, the European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday ruled that crucifixes in Italian classrooms were a violation of parents' rights to educate their kids according to their principles.

Upholding a plea from a Finnish immigrant to Italy, the Strasbourg-based court also said the crosses ran counter to a child's own rights to freedom of religious choice.

(ANSA) - Vatican City, October 30 - Pope Benedict XVI will receive the head of the Church of England, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, on November 31, the Vatican confirmed Friday.

William was already scheduled to visit for the 100th anniversary of the birth of Catholic ecumenical pioneer Johannes Willebrands but his trip has assumed greater significance since an October 20 announcement that the Vatican was setting up a new section to help Anglicans who want to convert to Catholicism.

(ANSA) - Vatican City, October 29 - Halloween is anti-Christian and sends dangerous occult messages, the Vatican reiterated Thursday.

In an article entitled Halloween's Dangerous Messages, Holy See newspaper l'Osservatore Romano quoted liturgical expert Joan Maria Canals as saying ''Halloween has an undercurrent of occultism and is absolutely anti-Christian''.

(ANSA) - Vatican City, October 29 - Pope Benedict XVI voiced optimism in Iran's willingness to cooperate with the international community during a meeting on Thursday with Tehran's new ambassador to the Holy See.

The pope also told Ali Akbar Naseri that Iran's tradition of spirituality was ''a reason to hope for its increasing openness and confident cooperation with the international community''.

(ANSA) - Naples, October 28 - Police on Wednesday found a weapons cache in Naples in a flowerbed near a statue of Padre Pio.

The cache near the statue of the popular saint contained two foreign-made handguns, police said.

In the weapons sweep through a working-class district of the southern city, police also found a bullet-proof vest and a gun barrel.

The Camorra, or Naples mafia, recruits its 'soldiers' from the poorest parts of the city.

(ANSA) - Rome, October 27 - Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world, the Vatican's representative at the United Nations told the General Assembly on Tuesday.

Monsignor Celestino Migliore, the Holy See's permanent observer at the UN, said the right to freedom of religion ''is still widely violated'', despite repeated declarations from the international community and global conventions.

(ANSA) - Krakow, October 27 - The beatification of late pope John Paul II is expected to take place at latest by next year, Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno said on Tuesday, during a visit to the pontiff's native Poland.

''These are internal decisions (by the Catholic Church) but it is expected to take place latest by next year,'' Alemanno said after talks with the archbishop of Krakow, Monsignor Stanislaw Dziwisz, who served as John Paul's private secretary during his pontificate.

(ANSA) - Rome, October 27 - Pope Benedict XVI will visit the northern Italian city of Brescia in November to commemorate the 31st anniversary of the death of Pope Paul VI, the Vatican announced Tuesday.

The pope begins his November 8 trip with a stop at a church in the nearby town of Botticino Sera, to visit the remains of Saint Arcangelo Tadini, a crusader for workers' rights during Italy's industrial revolution at the turn of the last century.

(ANSA) - Vatican City, October 27 - Pope Benedict XVI will visit Turin next May 2 to view the Shroud of Turin which will be on display next spring for the first time since 2000, the city's archbishop, Cardinal Severino Poletto, confirmed in a statement on Tuesday.

The Turin Shroud is venerated by Catholics as the winding cloth used to wrap the body of the crucified Christ.

It bears the faint image of the front and back of a tall, long-haired, bearded man and appears to be stained by blood from wounds in his feet, wrists and side.

(ANSA) - Vatican city, September 26 - Negotiations between the Vatican and the ultratraditionalist Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) on reuniting the breakaway group with the Catholic Church might take a year, the head of the dissident order said on Monday.

Speaking to reporters after the formal start of negotiations, Monsignor Bernard Fellay said it would probably take a year to sort out differences.

Vatican Spokesman, Father Federico Lombardo, refused to comment, saying it was ''inappropriate to make predictions''.