Madrid, Spain, Nov 24, 2008 / 20:11 pm
Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, the Archbishop of Toledo, on Sunday decried a Spanish judge’s ruling that removed crucifixes from classroom walls. He called it a doomed, “Christophobic” attempt to “impose a new culture” which forgets and denies both God and man.
In the northern city of Valladolid, Judge Alejandro Valentin ordered the Macias Picavea School to remove religious symbols from classrooms and public spaces, arguing that the presence of these symbols in areas where minors are educated can promote the idea that the state is closer to Catholicism than other religions, the Edmonton Journal reports.
His decision came in response to a 2005 request by a parent and a local secular association which argued for the decision on the grounds that the Spanish constitution guarantees "freedom of religion" and ensures the "secular and neutral" character of the state.
Cardinal Cañizares responded to the decision, saying “it is an attempt to impose a new culture, a project of humanity that implies an anthropological and radical vision which changes the vision that constitutes our identity,” an identity Spaniards have received “from our predecessors.”