DAR AL HARB-SPAIN: MOSLEMS IN SPAIN WANT TO PRAY INSIDE OF THE CATHEDRAL OF CORDOBA (A MOSQUE FROM THE TIME THE MOORS ENSLAVED SPAIN)...

Spanish Muslims ask Pope to pray in former historic mosque

Spanish Muslims said on Wednesday that they have appealed to Pope Benedict XVI to be allowed to pray in the Cathedral of Cordoba in southern Spain, which was once an ancient mosque.

In a letter to the pope, Spain's Islamic Board said senior Spanish Catholic clergy had rejected requests for Muslims to be allowed to pray inside the Cathedral, which was converted into a church in the 13th century.

Spain cathedral shuns Muslim plea

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.

Shared use of places of worship could make sense in airports or an Olympic village, said the bishop, but not in a consecrated Catholic cathedral.

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***UPDATE***Spain: Bishop Rejects Muslim Prayers in Cathedral ***UPDATE***

The Roman Catholic bishop of the southern city of Córdoba, Juan José Asenjo, turned down a request from Muslims to be allowed to pray in its cathedral, a former mosque, news reports said. He was quoted as saying that joint use would not help relations and that in any case the church was there first, as the eighth-century Córdoba Mosque from the Moorish rule of Spain had been built on the ruins of a church erected by the Visigoths. It became a Catholic cathedral in 1236, with the expulsion of the Moors. The influential leader of the Islamic Commission of Spain, Mansur Escudero, responded to the rejection by praying outside the cathedral, to “soften the heart of the bishop.”

Pertinent Links:

1) Spanish Muslims ask Pope to pray in former historic mosque

2) Spain cathedral shuns Muslim plea

3) Spain: Bishop Rejects Muslim Prayers in Cathedral