No more crucifixes in Portuguese hospitals ?

The journalist Ricardo Tavares reacts to the appeal launched last week by the Portuguese association Republica e Laicidade (Republic and Secular State) in which it demands the withdrawal of crucifixes and images of saints from public health establishments. "Portuguese society is profoundly catholic and this is why it should demonstrate tolerance, accepting the idea that State hospitals, which are secular [according to article 41 of the Portuguese Constitution], should take the crucifixes off their walls. What the State, which is secular, cannot and should not allow is bad treatment and long waiting lists inflicted on the sick, whether catholic or not. Those are crosses that no Portuguese person should have to bear."

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