Crucifix controversy: Mixing Italy's religion, politics, culture

Published: 2003-10-31

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A judge's order to remove a crucifix from an Italian classroom has provoked strong criticism from some sectors of the Vatican and cautionary words from Pope John Paul II. At the same time, some Vatican officials were reluctant to wade into the controversy lest they help fuel a new and unnecessary Christian-Muslim conflict. "It is a complicated Italian question, involving religion, politics and culture. We are not saying anything about it," said Msgr. Khaled Akasheh of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, which coordinates Vatican relations with Muslims. No one seemed to want the October controversy -- no one, that is, except Adel Smith, a Muslim activist who has made a career out of pushing for Islamic rights and a more multicultural society in Italy, his adopted country. In the central Italian mountain town of Ofena, Smith first asked that a verse from the Quran be displayed next to the crucifix in his children's classrooms. When that was denied, he sued. He said he's simply exercising his constitutional right against religious discrimination.

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