Though Christmas is months away, the traditional celebration of the birth of Christ in Italian school districts has become a raging controversy. Parents of pupils at the Casa del Bosco nursery school in the multi-ethnic Oltrisarco district of Bolzano have been informed that at the school’s Christmas concert, the students will not be permitted to sing “Tu scendi dalle stelle†[From Starry Skies Thou Comest].
The school’s teachers single-handedly made the decision to eliminate the carol to placate Muslim and other foreign born children, though they celebrate Chinese New Years and “learn about the significance of Ramadan.â€
The Italian newspaper Corriere Della Serra got it right, calling the move sublimating Christianity a “sacrifice†of the “baby Jesus on the altar of multiculturalism.â€
The town’s Mayor Luigi Spagnolli called the matter “complete nonsense†and even the local Imam Breigeche Abulkeheir, said in an interview with Corriere Della Serra that “the figure of Jesus is holy for those who believe in the Koran, too.â€
