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| Europe |
| Moslems want to pray in Spanish cathedral |
| 2004-04-19 |
| EFL What’s arabic for chutzpah? "Muslims across Spain are lobbying the Catholic church in Cordoba to make a symbolic gesture of reconciliation between faiths by allowing them to pray in the city’s cathedral. Cordoba’s Renaissance-era cathedral sits in the centre of a 10th century mosque complex, and local Muslims want to be allowed to pray there again. They have appealed to the Vatican to intercede on their behalf. A spokesman for the local bishop said that the proposal faced many obstacles and it would be many years before it came to anything. Nowadays, Cordoba is a small provincial capital, but 1000 years ago it was one of the great cities of the world. As the capital of Moorish Spain, it became one of Islam’s holiest places and a centre of Islamic art and scholarship to rival Baghdad. |
| Posted by:RWV |
| #15 How about....NO? |
| Posted by: Valentine 2004-04-20 12:04:38 AM |
#14 Moslems want to pray in Spanish cathedralSure, no problem. Right after Christians openly worship on a regular basis, unharmed, in Arabia, Iran, etc. Oh, yeah - and Jews too. I like living, so I won't hold my breath. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-04-19 10:02:07 PM |
| #13 It'll be interesting what the Vatican says Out of respect for others, I will refrain from making a lame joke here. |
| Posted by: B 2004-04-19 9:45:21 PM |
| #12 Stavros, great point! When I visited Jerusalem in 1970 as a Christian pilgrim, nobody but Muslims were allowed into the Dome of the Rock mosque, even though the site is sacred to Muslims, Jews and Christians. Note also though how now that the Islamists have had their way with Spain, they feel so free to have the run of the place. Time for the Re-Reconquista! |
| Posted by: Jen 2004-04-19 9:31:11 PM |
| #11 We'll let them pray in the cathedral at Cordoba when Christians can pray in the cathedral (now a mosque) of Saint Sophia in Istanbul (formerly Constantinople). |
| Posted by: Stavros 2004-04-19 9:22:21 PM |
| #10 For Muslims, the most important part of the mosque is the mihrab, the recess in the south-eastern wall which indicates the direction of Mecca for prayer. In the Córdoba mosque, the mihrab is outside the cathedral itself, so in theory it would be possible for Muslims to pray without affecting ceremonies in the cathedral. Good then perhaps we should turn the 'mihrab' into a public toilet like they did Church of Christ the Savior in Pristina |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-04-19 7:24:00 PM |
| #9 Muslims are allowed to worship in the cathedral. Of course, they have to convert to Catholicism, first, and have to follow the RC catechism, but they are allowed to worship there. (And if they're allowed we'd damn well see those ugly minarets around the Hagia Sophia taken down and the place reconsecrated, and that monstrosity built on the Temple Mount taken down and the site handed over to its rightful owners.) |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-04-19 7:13:36 PM |
| #8 Mr. Yosemite Sam has it correct. Reap what you sow....We all knew that iraq was only a pretext and not the motivation behind the Madrid attacks. Jews being allowed to pray in a mosque will never happen - you know the religion of peace and tolerance and all that lip service. Personally a person should be able to pray to whatever god/religion in whatever location. But that is my humble opinion. |
| Posted by: Dan 2004-04-19 7:08:06 PM |
| #7 Mike Sylwester and Alaska Paul--thanks. You guys made my day! Thanks for your comments. |
| Posted by: ex-lib 2004-04-19 6:34:14 PM |
| #6 I thought this must be a Scrappleface article, but no. Why does everyplace that Islam occupies becomes a "holy place"? This is an honest query. What makes a place holy in the Islamic faith? I ask this because everything is annoited with holiness. |
| Posted by: ColoradoConservative 2004-04-19 6:33:10 PM |
| #5 Next thing after they are allowed to |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-04-19 6:24:28 PM |
| #4 "Prime-Minister" Zapatero, trial lawyer, will make a speech to the 57% who voted for OTHER than the Socialists: That it is good "social responsibility" to let the Moslems pray in the Cordoba, and those opposed are racists. The small number of Greens and Communists will be happy to go along. They're in his coalition. The Conservatives, and ethnics (Catalans, Basques) are maybe not so sure that PC should enter the Church, even though the ethnics may be sympathetic on other issues. |
| Posted by: Anonymous4052 2004-04-19 6:15:00 PM |
| #3 Broadening their spirit of reconciliation, these Moslems ought to advocate also that Jews be allowed to pray in all the places in the Moslem countries where there used to be Jewish communities -- and that Christians be allowed to pray in all the places where there used to be Christian communities. A good country to start this campaign would be Saudi Arabia, where there used to be both Jewish and Christian communities. |
| Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2004-04-19 5:55:30 PM |
| #2 The Spainish should not be surprised by this - they voted for it. It'll be interesting what the Vatican says. |
| Posted by: Yosemite Sam 2004-04-19 5:51:16 PM |
| #1 Interesting. As a Jew I CANT pray in a Cathedral - cant hold a jewish prayer in the presence of all those graven images, etc. An Orthodox Jew cant even go inside one. Sharia must be more lenient than Halacha in this respect. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-04-19 5:33:36 PM |