Abstract

In the endless controversy over the legitimacy or otherwise of the display of the crucifix in school classrooms, which for decades has pitted Catholic and lay people against each other, with sentence no. 24414 of 2021, the United Sections of the Court of Cassation have indicated the main way to go: that of «reasonable accommodation». In essence, the Supreme Court suggests the use of the dialogue, in search of a mild, intermediate solution, capable of satisfying the different ideal positions of all the protagonists of the school community, without excluding, in the event of a request, the possibility of displaying the symbols of other religions. While not disapplying the Fascist legislation regarding the display of the crucifix, the pronouncement clarifies that the authoritative presence of this religious emblem in common educational spaces is not compatible with the supreme principle of secularity of the State, given that a similar obligation is to be considered an expression of a confessional choice and that in the republican constitutional democracy the identification of the public authorities with a religion is to be considered no longer allowed.