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MOSQUES-ITALY Dec-8-2008 (410 words) xxxi
Milan needs more places of worship including mosques, says cardinal
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Milan needs more places of worship, especially for the city's Muslims, said Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi of Milan.
"We need places of worship in every neighborhood of the city. People belonging to faiths other than Christianity need them even more urgently, especially Islam," he said Dec. 5 in an annual speech to the city before the Dec. 7 feast of St. Ambrose, a doctor of the church who was bishop of Milan in the fourth century.
"We also need cultural initiatives that promote reflection, not provocation that only creates dead-end debates and sensationalism," Cardinal Tettamanzi said.
True and fruitful dialogue with people who are different is "currently a real emergency in Milan and elsewhere," he said.
"Often people say, 'Islam scorns other religions and their followers ... it is fanatical, exploits its faith for twisted or criminal ends, doesn't use reason as a means for discussion or discourse with its people, enslaves its women,'" the cardinal said.
Only by talking with Muslims will people discover if the common perceptions are true or true for everyone, Cardinal Tettamanzi said.
Isolated, serious incidents caused by individuals must not push people into accusing all Muslims of the same crimes or to looking upon them with suspicion, he said.
As a sign of the church's willingness to dialogue, the archdiocese's priests and lay faithful will be leaving written greetings with the Muslims they meet during their traditional visits to neighborhood homes this Christmas season, he said.
The cardinal's remarks came just a few days after two suspected terrorists were arrested Dec. 2. Authorities accused two Moroccan men of planning terrorist attacks on targets in northern Italy.
Police also shut down a cultural center where one of the suspects worked as a Muslim prayer leader.
The arrests led Italy's interior minister to call for a moratorium on the building of new mosques in Italy, saying mosques were being used to recruit terrorists and finance terrorism.
Some politicians, especially from the country's anti-immigrant Northern League, criticized Cardinal Tettamanzi's call for more mosques and places of worship for people of all faiths.
The cardinal responded to the criticisms on Vatican Radio Dec. 7, saying it was time "to abandon prejudices and stereotypes" and begin open and objective dialogue with people of other religions, including Islam.
Only through dialogue can people ascertain whether their fears, suspicions or doubts are justified or not, he said.
END
Copyright (c) 2008 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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