Italy is an officially secular country. However, with an 80% majority identifying itself as Catholic, and as the site of much of the history of the Catholic Church, of course Catholicism plays an integral part in the sociopolitical stance of the nation. Prior to secularization, legislation said that there should be crucifixes in every school. In 2003, a Muslim family in Ofena, Italy asked that crosses be taken down out of respect for their Muslim children who attended a local school in the city. They won, but of course it caused a lot of commotion.

Islam is the second largest religion in Italy, this being due to their large influx of immigrants from Muslim countries each year.  However, Muslims haven’t received the same recognition as followers of smaller groups, including those of Judaism, Assemblies of God and the Seventh-Day Adventists. In fact, earlier this year Italy passed a law against the niqab despite its relatively large Muslim population. Also, in 2009, a group of thousands of Muslims were condemned for holding congregational prayers outdoors during a protest for Palestine. Mind you, this happened multiple times and once it was outside of a cathedral.

Personally, I think there wouldn't be so much of a revolt if Muslims did get rights equal to other minorities in the land, but then I also can’t prove that this is the case. Many Muslims have voiced their neutrality over the situation, stating that things like a cross in a classroom are not the concern and fighting over those issues is actually impeding integration. However, even in these cries one can assume that they do feel ostracized – hence their desire for leniency on the matter. 

Overall, I don’t know where I stand on this one. It is unfair that Muslims aren’t a recognized religious group, but it’s also not right to break laws and offend the other citizens of the country you live in. I guess the question is, which came first?