Buenos Aires, Argentina, Dec 10, 2003 / 22:00 pm
A judge in Argentina has ordered the removal of an image of Our Lady of St. Nicholas from the country’s Supreme Court building.
Judge Susana Córdoba ruled in favor of a suit brought by the Association for Civil Rights, an anti-religious group, which claimed the presence of the image or of any religious symbol “would jeopardize the principle of judicial impartiality.”
Fr. Jorge Oesterheld, spokesman for the Bishops Conference of Argentina, told reporters Córdoba’s decision “surprises a country whose Catholic tradition is part of the national culture.”
According to Fr. Oesterheld, the presence of Catholic symbols in public places “has never implied religious discrimination nor been an obstacle to freedom of religion.”