In a somewhat surprising move the Vatican has ruled out the use of the cathedral in Cordoba, Spain, as a mosque. Actually, the church was built on the site where a mosque used to be centuries ago, and Muslims want to be allowed to use a piece of the property for prayers. Still the Vatican says no.
After all, there are several churches in the Middle East that have been appropriated as mosques which Christians would never be allowed to use. As the archbishop says, “accept history” rather than try to “take revenge” for the Christian re-conquest of Cordoba.
Muslims have made a determined practice of building mosques over the holy sites of others – the Temple in Jerusalem, holy Hindu sites in India, churches in northern Africa and Spain. It would be abundantly foolish to turn Christian churches over to non-Christian worship.
Whew…lucky american Bishops didn’t have a hand in this….they’d personally be laying out the prayer rugs at this weekend’s Mass, turning over not the Church but the entire congregation.
Don’t the pagan Ibero-Celts have first dibs, on that space anyway, or pagan Greek traders?