Arrests after Muslim Prayer in Cathedral of Cordoba

Up to 118 Men forced their way into the Cathedral in order to pray a Muslim prayer. 2 Austrians were also arrrested.

Up to 118 Men forced their way into the Cathedral in order to pray a Muslim prayer. They resisted the police violently, reported the Spanish media on Thursday. The common use of the former Mosque and current Cathedral by Catholics and Muslims has been contested for a long time.

Recent reports about the most recent incident have been conflicting. Various media reports estimate up to 118 men came in the Catheddral in order to pray muslim prayers. They were asked by private security personal to stop. Then the ssecurity personell were threatened, and they called the police. They then reported that the police and some of the men grappled. Two Austrians were detained for reisting the civil authorities.

The worldfamous Catholic Cathedral of Cordoba was converted into a mosque in the 8th Century upon the Muslim conquest. Up until the 13th Century it was the largest Mosque in the West. First, toward the end of the Islamic predomiance in Spain the mosque was reconverted to a Catholic church. Above all, these local muslims maintained that the house of God can be used communally for prayer.

Link to original...

From the Guardian.

"They argue that canon law does not allow Muslims to pray there, though they have been happy to permit visiting Saudi princes and other dignitaries, including Saddam Hussein, to pray," he said.

"A new bishop was appointed recently and one of his first public statements was to say that Muslim prayers would not be allowed as this would create confusion," he said. "It seems the guards have instructions to prevent prayers with violence, if necessary."

Cathedral authorities reiterated their ban on prayers. "The shared use of the cathedral by Catholics and Muslims would not contribute to the peaceful coexistence of the two beliefs," the statement from the bishop's office said.

"This one-off incident does not represent the genuine attitude of Muslims, many of whom maintain an attitude of respect and dialogue with the Catholic church," it added. "We deplore the damage done to the image of our city and to the peaceful coexistence of visitors and citizens."

Church authorities also recalled that archeologists had shown that, prior to the construction of the mosque in the eighth century, a Christian temple had stood on the same spot.

The 23,400 sq metre mosque occupies an area equivalent to three football pitches and boasts 1,300 columns and more than 300 yellow and red horseshoe arches. There are only three larger mosques in the world – at the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, the Turkish capital Istanbul, and the Moroccan port city of Casablanca.

Link to original...