ROME (Reuters) - Italy's non-Catholics and the opposition have reacted with alarm to a vow by members of the center-right government to make it obligatory to display a crucifix in classrooms, public offices and train stations.
Jewish and Muslim leaders expressed horror at the proposals, made on Wednesday by the right-wing Northern League party and Letizia Moratti, education minister in Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government.
"What would I put on the walls of an Italian school? A DNA strand. That's the only symbol of the entire human species," Amos Luzzatto, president of Italy's Jewish communities, told an Italian newspaper.
Several other non-Catholic religious leaders said the proposals could send the wrong signal to anti-immigrant groups and incite violence.
About 70 Northern League parliamentarians said they would sponsor a law making it obligatory to display crucifixes in all national, regional and local government offices, court houses, and even train stations, airports and ferry terminals.
Under the proposal, people who removed crucifixes from walls could face six months in jail or a fine of up to about $1,000.
On the same day that the League presented its proposal, Moratti told parliament she would see to it that crucifixes are kept on the walls of all of Italy's state-run schools.
Technically, laws regarding crucifixes in public buildings date from the 1920s when Italy was a monarchy and are still in effect.
But since 1984, when Roman Catholicism ceased being state religion under a new concordat with the Vatican, the laws have not been enforced and many teachers have removed crucifixes from school walls.
RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE
In recent years, the number of Muslim children in state schools has grown as waves of immigrants have arrived to take up jobs Italians no longer want. The crucifixes were removed from some schools as a goodwill gesture of religious tolerance.
The center-left opposition blasted the center-right, saying the two initiatives smacked of the kind of intolerance not worthy of a modern country in Europe.
"Defending ourselves against so-called Islamic insolence smacks of a horrendous medieval crusade which reinforces the concept that (non-Catholics) are an enemy to be combated even with violence," said Greens parliamentarian Mauro Bulgarelli.
Catholics who support the proposals say the crucifix is a symbol of Italy's civilisation, culture and Christian heritage.
But the opposition says the law would be a violation of the human rights of non-Catholics.
"Crucifixes are fine in places of worship, in churches, in the hearts of men and women who believe in Christ. Imposing them by law will not lead to anything good," said Valdo Spini, a parliamentarian of the Democrats of the Left opposition party.
Another Greens parliamentarian, Mauro Romanelli, said the proposals were offensive not only to members of other religions but also to "intelligent Catholics."
Even members of Berlusconi's coalition expressed open dissent from their ministerial colleagues.
"Imposing the crucifix on the walls of all schools and public offices is a historic mistake," said Egidio Sterpa, a member of Berlusconi's Forza Italia party.
"Our civilisation and our culture naturally leads us to recognize ourselves in Christian values but this would be a grave sign of liberal and democratic insensibility," he said.