Syracuse: former parish to become mosque, crosses to be cut off
April 04, 2014
The Syracuse Landmark Preservation Board has approved a request to cut the crosses off a former Catholic parish and turn the historic neo-Gothic structure into a mosque, according to an Associated Press report.
The board’s chairman said that federal law prohibits the board from interfering with religious freedom.
The Diocese of Syracuse, located in upstate New York, closed the parish in 2010, and three years later the property was sold to the Northside Learning Center, a nonprofit organization that tutors immigrants.
The center plans to turn the structure into a mosque and sought approval from the board to remove the former church’s crosses. According to the local parish’s website, the mosque will be named the Mosque of Jesus the Son of Mary.
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Further information:
- Islamic group gets OK to cut crosses off NY church (AP)
- Should the crosses be cut off a Syracuse church to create a mosque? (Syracuse Post-Standard)
- Remembering Holy Trinity Church (St. John the Baptist Holy Trinity Church)
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