Madrid, Spain, Oct 11, 2007 / 08:41 am
During a summit on “Islamophobia” organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Arab League of Cordoba in Spain, the secretary general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, demanded Muslims be granted the right to hold religious services at the Cathedral of Cordoba.
The first day of the summit quickly became controversial when Moussa demanded that the Cathedral, which was once a Mosque, be made available for Muslim prayer.
“All churches and mosques are built for prayer and to be used for this end; I think there wouldn’t be a religious clash at all; the clash would be instead of a political nature,” Moussa said. However, he ignored questions pertaining to why Christians are not only forbidden to pray in mosques but are even prohibited from building churches in some Muslim countries.
Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Miguel Angel Moratinos, who is president of the OSCE and the inspiration behind the summit, distanced himself from the controversy and said the Church would have to decide whether or not to allow the Cathedral to be used by Muslims. “Whatever the Church does will be done well,” he said.