Historic Ruling: Mandatory Crucifix Display in Public Offices Overturned

The historic ruling of the Council of State dated March 18, 2024, clarifies that a mayor cannot issue any ordinance to make the display of the crucifix mandatory in schools, courts, and other public offices. 14 years have passed, and finally, the Council of State has sided with the UAAR - the Union of Atheists and Rationalist Agnostics - over an issue that dates back to 2010. In Mandas, a small municipality of two thousand inhabitants in the south of Sardinia, in the province of Cagliari, the UDC mayor Umberto Oppus issued an ordinance that imposed the crucifix in all public buildings. Those who did not display it risked a fine of 500 euros. The reason for the ordinance by the mayor was in reaction to the ruling of the European Court of Strasbourg, issued following an appeal presented by UAAR member Soile Lautsi. Pope Francis: Make the nativity scene in schools but do not exploit it The Sentence on the Crucifix The ordinance in the Sardinian town remained in force for a few months, then the devoutly Catholic mayor withdrew it after having placed crucifixes in all public offices. The UAAR had already filed an appeal that was rejected by the TAR of Sardinia in 2017. Today, the Council of State has definitively sided with the UAAR "for the Mayor having exceeded the powers attributed to him". Indeed, the principles of legality and the specificity of administrative measures were violated. According to the ruling of the highest body of administrative justice, not only could the mayor not issue that ordinance not provided for or justified by any law. Reactions Meanwhile, Umberto Oppus, who is still the mayor of Mandas, having been in office for 10 years from 2005 to 2015 and again from 2020 to today, comments: "I take note of the ruling - comments Oppus -. In the case in question, the Council of State has ruled hearing only one side. The Municipality did not, in fact, constitute itself in court. Perhaps with a version also from the other side, we would have had a different kind of sentence". But in the end, he admits, also by virtue of the ruling, that he would not do it again: "The world evolves. Secularity, even for De Gasperi, was one of the most important values, but it does not contemplate the cancellation of secular historical-cultural traditions". Principal removes the crucifix from classrooms in Carpi: "We are in a school, not in a church". Social media storm Precedents The Council of State's ruling represents the fourth consecutive victory for the UAAR. The first occurred when in Verona the Supreme Court in 2020 and the Court of Appeal in 2022 recognized the right to atheist propaganda for non-believers. The second victory is in 2021 with the TAR siding with the UAAR on the alternative hour to the Teaching of Catholic religion.