The chief justice of the
Emilia Romagna regional administrative court (TAR) said Friday
the court struck down a Bologna school ordinance authorizing
Catholic priests to perform Easter blessings because that would
have been a religious ritual and not just a tradition.
The difference, said Judge Giuseppe Di Nunzio, is that
actual religious rituals have no place in schools, unlike mere
traditions such as displaying a crucifix or building a Nativity
scene at Christmas.
"The heart of the ruling is in the sense that an Easter
blessing is a religious rite and not just a religious
tradition," the judge told reporters on the day of the
inauguration of the Emilia Romagna judicial year.
Di Nunzio said he conveyed this line of reasoning to the
Church in "a friendly chat" with Bologna Archbishop Matteo
Zuppi.
The Emilia Romagna TAR struck down the ordinance on
February 10, upholding an appeal by teachers and parents.
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