That all depends on what account you read.  If you believe the Daily Mail’s account of the Vatican response to the EU ruling banning crucifixes from Italian classrooms (because they violate the “religious rights” of children) then the Vatican is “furious.”  They are, to quote the piece, “said to be furious.”  (They ascribe this to a “Vatican source.”)  On that slim reed leans the story’s headline: “Vatican Fury as EU Court Bans Crucifixes,” which makes it sound like the pope was red-facedly screaming on the phone to the EU or stomping through the apostolic palace.  But not so fast.  The Associated Press story says that the official Vatican spokesperson, Frederico Lombardi, S.J., said that he wanted to read the ruling before he commented on it.  He is quoted further down in the Daily Mail story as well: “We will look closely at the judgement before making any decision.”  Of course both stories could be accurate: Fr. Lombardi’s quote is certainly accurate: officials must still read the text of the just-published ruling.  And the “Vatican source” could in fact be accurately describing the reaction of some officials in Rome.  But the use of “Vatican Fury” as a headline is rather misleading, if you ask me.

The Rev. James Martin, S.J., is a Jesuit priest, author, editor at large at America and founder of Outreach.