On the Campaign for Islamic Prayer in a Cathedral of Mary

By Dr. Jeff Mirus ( bio - articles - email ) | Aug 18, 2010

The Archbishop of Cordoba has refused permission for Muslims to practice formal Islamic prayer in his cathedral, which is dedicated to Saint Mary of the Assumption. According to Mansur Escudero, who is leading the campaign for Islamic worship in the cathedral, the purpose of the campaign is not to win a victory for Islam, but a victory for mankind. He wants the cathedral to serve as a living symbol of religious harmony.

On his side Escudero has the dual heritage of the cathedral. Originally the site of a Catholic church dedicated to St. James, it was converted to a mosque after the Islamic conquest of southern Spain in the 8th century, and it was converted back to a cathedral when Spain’s Catholic monarchy wrested control of Cordoba from the Muslims in the 13th century. It is said that at times during the golden age of Islam, Christians and Muslims worshipped together peacefully in the mosque, though apparently never so peacefully that the Christians did not yearn to throw off their Muslim conquerors, fighting for some 700 years before they finally managed to reclaim all of Spain.

Against the sincerity of Escudero’s idea is the rather telling point that Escudero, though claiming to be motivated by sweetness and light, happens to be a convert to Islam. Yet, curiously, has not jump-started his campaign by seeking to open a currently active mosque to Catholic worship. Instead, he wishes to launch peace and harmony by insisting that a Catholic cathedral open itself to Islam.

Nor is Escudero’s own description of what he is trying to achieve particularly edifying:

They pretend that we are trying to conquer the mosque again. That's not the intention at all. We want it to be a place where anyone— whether Muslim, Christian or Jew— can do his meditation or his internal way of worshipping, or praying or whatever he wants to call it.

Of course, any Muslim or Jew can already enter the cathedral quietly and “do his meditation or his internal way of worshipping, or praying”. I don’t think the Archbishop is prepared to read hearts or assess the intentions of those quietly pursuing interior prayer. But public worship is something else, and the phrase “whatever he wants to call it” leaves one pondering the extent of Escudero’s spiritual eclecticism. Is it conceivable that he is more interested in religious indifferentism than in religious understanding? Or perhaps Catholic indifferentism?

We ought to respect those who sincerely hold deep religious beliefs contrary to our own. We ought to strive for better mutual understanding, and make ourselves more aware of the similarities—and the differences—in our respective beliefs. As a general norm, however, those who care deeply about their faith ought not to be anxious to open their places of worship to those who believe that faith is largely false. And those who have charge of buildings consecrated to the worship of Jesus Christ as Lord ought not to open them to gatherings and worship by those who deny Christ’s claims.

It is far better, I think, for those who disagree with each other in matters of faith to worship separately. The alternative, I fear, is that, along with disagreement, faith itself will disappear. Nor do I intend this merely as a matter of sensible sociological grouping, as if every religion is the same, and so we must simply respect differences that, having no real reason to exist, are nonetheless collectively important to the soul.

No: I believe that Jesus Christ is the sole and unique mediator between God and man, and that all salvation comes through him. I do not wish to see this blunted in any way. I hope and believe I speak in the great tradition reaffirmed so recently by Mansur Escudero: The triumph of the cross, after all, is for the good of humanity.