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ROME - Pope Benedict and the Italian Education Minister both spoke out yesterday in support of Christmas creches, threatened by initiatives to remove them from public view in predominantly Catholic Italy.
The traditional tableau depicting the Three Wise Men visiting Jesus in a manger "is an important part not only of our spirituality, but also of our art and culture", the Pope said during his weekly audience at the Vatican.
Education Minister Giuseppe Fioroni said the creche and the Christmas holiday in general carried "universal values" of "peace and serenity".
"It is deeply mistaken to believe that the best way to build dialogue is through the deafening silence of bans," Fioroni said, referring to moves by teachers in various parts of the country to bar symbols of Christmas from their schools.
Thirty-two right-wing law-makers have asked Italian President Giorgio Napolitano to assure the tradition of nativity scenes, as well as Christmas trees and the singing of carols, at schools.
They were incensed when an elementary school teacher in the northern Italian town of Bolzano proposed that pupils should not sing carols containing references to Jesus so as not to offend their Muslim classmates.
The centuries-old tradition of creches is alive and well in Italy, and Parliament is no exception.
Taking advantage of the display to make a political point, left-wing lawmakers Bruno Mellano and Donatella Poretti added two pairs of dolls representing gay and lesbian couples to Parliament's creche in a gesture of support for legal recognition of homosexual unions. A clerk quickly removed the dolls.
- AFP
