Thursday, December 28, 2006

Muslims Appeal to Rome

For the right to worship in former mosque, now a Spanish Cathedral.

From the BBC:

The Roman Catholic bishop of Cordoba in southern Spain has rejected an appeal from Muslims for the right to pray in the city's cathedral, a former mosque.
Juan Jose Asenjo rejected the request made by Spain's Islamic Board in a letter to the Pope.

It had asked that the cathedral become an ecumenical temple where believers from all faiths could worship.

The bishop said such a move would not contribute to the peaceful co-existence between people of different religions.

On the contrary, he said in a statement late on Wednesday, the joint use of temples and places of worship would only generate confusion amongst the faithful.


An option would be to segment off a part of the Cathedral for Muslim prayer, similar to what exists in the House of Mary in Ephesus--recently visited by Pope Benedict.