The exposition of religious and cultural symbols according to the political European system. The case Lautsi versus Italy at the European Court of Human Rights

On 3rd November 2009 the European Court of Human Rights in Strasburg ruled that Italy had to remove crucifi xes from school classrooms, thereby supporting the application submitted by Soile Lautsi Albertin, an Italian citizen of Finnish origin, “in the name of the principle of state secularism.” The above decision sparked an uproar and criticism which reverberated throughout entire Europe. On 30th June 2010, an appeal against this ruling, inspired by an ideological vision of religious freedom, had been discussed by Italian government lawyers before the Grand Chambre of the Court of Justice in Strasbourg. The Appeal judgment cancelled the first verdict and recognized the Italian Government’s reasons and rights to display crucifixes in public schools. It was concluded that the first judgment didn’t take into consideration the social and public role of religion, especially the Christian one, in the process of building a civil society and a public law system and promoted religious indifferentism which stands in contradiction with the entire history, culture and rights of the Italian people and the peoples of Europe.