Classroom crucifixes under fire

GERMANY’S first designated Muslim state minister wants to ban crucifixes from classrooms.

Aygul Ozkan, who is to become social minister in Lower Saxony state, told news weekly Focus in an interview, “Christian symbols do not belong in state-run schools.”

Her party, the Christian Democratic Union led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, and the federal government immediately rejected her stance.

Merkel’s spokesman said the Chancellor maintained that crucifixes in classrooms are part of a long Christian tradition in Germany.

Crucifixes feature in many German classrooms and have been a lively political issue for years.