All your Church are belong to me.
If everything belongs to “the world” then nothing belongs to you. You see how it works, right? And then those with political power will own everything; even in this case a Catholic cathedral.
The Spanish Left, in conjunction with Muslim activists in southern Spain, is trying to seize control of the Cathedral of Córdoba from the Catholic Church. Local politicians affiliated with the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) contend that the cathedral belongs to the world, rather than to a private owner. Catholic officials disagree, however, believing the Church rightfully owns the cathedral.
The cathedral has a long and storied past. It was built as a mosque soon after Muslim soldiers conquered Spain in the eighth century and was transformed into a cathedral during the Reconquista, the period in which Christian rulers retook control of the country. The Basilica of Saint Vincent, an ancient Christian church, originally stood in the place where the mosque was constructed.
In the early 2000s, Spanish Muslims appealed to the Catholic Church to permit them to pray in the cathedral. In 2006, after the Church rejected the prayer petition, the former president of the Córdoba-based Islamic Council, Mansur Escudero, “began performing his Friday prayers outside the mosque-cathedral as a protest against the Church’s decision.”The Catholic Church officially registered ownership of the cathedral in 2006, although it has controlled it since the 13th century. In 2013, “an organization called the ‘Platform for the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba’ secured more than 350,000 names for a petition demanding the seizure of the cathedral, a push heavily promoted by the Spanish socialist newspaper El Pais.” The Economist reported in 2015 that the mayor, a member of the PSOE, promised to place the cathedral under public ownership. Last year, Córdoba’s city council issued a report claiming neither the Church nor any other body could own the property, because it belongs to “each and every citizen of the world from whatever epoch and regardless of people, nation, culture or race.”
The city council cannot outright expropriate the property, but the Wall Street Journal reports that “Andalusian law would permit expropriation if a court determined the diocese had failed properly to maintain and conserve the property.” According the same report, the pope has told the bishop of Córdoba, Demetrio Fernández González, that he would support the diocese if a legal battle ensues.
Be assured, a legal battle WILL ensue. This is not a question of it but a question of when.
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