Italy has appealed against a European rights court ruling that displaying crucifixes in Italian schools breached the rights of non-Catholic families, the court says.
The European Court of Human Rights ruled in November that Italy was undermining religious freedom and the right to a secular education by hanging crucifixes in state school classrooms, in a case brought by an Italian mother.
It also found that the crosses could be "disturbing" for pupils from other religions and ethnic minorities.
The ruling drew howls of anger from church and political leaders in the staunchly Catholic country, while a poll showed eight in ten Italians backed the presence of Catholic crosses in schools.
Court spokesman Stefano Piedimonte said the Italian government has lodged an appeal before the court's Grand Chamber. A college of five judges will examine the request and decide whether there are grounds for an appeal.
Under the terms of the European Convention on Human Rights, the Grand Chamber will consider an appeal if a case raises "a serious question affecting the interpretation" of the convention.
Catholicism was the state religion in Italy until 1984, and a 1920s ruling ordering the presence of crucifixes in schools was never abolished.
Italian mother Soile Lautsi, whose two children attended a state school near Venice, took her case to the European court after a long battle pitting her against Italy's Catholic establishment.
Front page
RSS Feed