Black, white or merry?

The Chief Public Prosecutor of Verona [Veneto] has caused controversy by choosing a black Holy Family for the crib which is displayed in the city's Courthouse this Christmas...

The Prosecutor, Mario Giulio Schinaia, says that he had the idea when he was thinking about a "universal" Christmas and that history suggests that Jesus, Mary and Joseph may well have been dark-skinned.

This is anathema to the ears of some Lega Nord [Northern League] politicians, however, and Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia has called the choice of figurines "an act of provocation" which is as bad as having no crib at all to avoid offending Muslims.

There have been strong reactions on both sides of the debate from the people of Verona, a rich town where the number of African and Eastern European immigrants is rising. The town's Northern League Mayor, Flavio Tosi, was at first reported to have criticised the crib, but is now said to be reacting philosophically. He has stated that he is happy about the crib itself, which he Sees as a symbol of Italian culture, and has pointed out that he has a crib from the Ivory Coast in his own home.

Mr Schinaia continues to defend his decision, saying that Christmas should be neither "black" nor "white", but "merry" for everyone.

Meanwhile, in the town of Coccaglio [Lombardy] police have been going from door to door checking on non-EU immigrants under a Northern League initiative entitled "White Christmas". Coccaglio has a population of just under 7,000 of which around 1500 are immigrants as opposed to 177 in 1998.

The League's stated aim is to "clean" the town of illegal immigrants before Christmas Day, when "White Christmas" officially ends. So far, 400 of those checked have been found to have papers which are not in order. Any immigrants whose "permission to stay" document expired over six months ago and who cannot prove that they have applied to renew it will have their "residence" status revoked.

"I don't see Christmas as a festival of ‘welcome' but as a Christian festival of our tradition and identity", says one of the town's Northern League councillors.

Source: www.italymag.co.uk