This is a very big move by the European Union court. Though the court has been asserting itself on business issues such as competition, social issues have been less controversial. It's going to be interesting to see what new cases related to church and state come as a result of this. In this particular case it is somewhat understandable to accept the argument that the crucifix is part of the Italian identity (from a purely historical perspective) though it's harder to make the argument that the crucifix in classrooms today is much more than imposing a specific religion on students. Especially since their mandatory presence was made law by Mussolini.
There was uproar in Italy today over a ruling by the European court of human rights that the crucifixes that hang in most Italian classrooms are a violation of religious and educational freedoms.
The seven judges, whose decision could prompt a Europe-wide review of the use of religious symbols on public premises, said state schools had to "observe confessional neutrality".
