In Brief
Germany: major decline in number of priests in Cologne archdiocese
The archbishop of Cologne anticipates a decline of around 30% of his priests in the coming years. There are currently 570. There will be about 490 priests in 2010 and 400 in 2020. This was announced by the director of pastoral personnel, Andreas Hesse, during an extraordinary meeting of the Priests Council at the end of March 2007.
Switzerland: Plans for minaret to be reviewed
The Direction of Construction, Traffic and Energy in the canton of Bern has dismissed the Commune of Langenthal’s demand for authorization to build a minaret. The canton of Bern has judged receivable the opposition presented by the neighborhood to the building project, and clarification of certain points has been requested. They will have to explain the function and use of the minaret, ascertain the intensity of the sound emissions, and confirm the number of parking places intended for the faithful of the mosque…
France: Act’Up condemned
On April 25, the grand Tribunal of Paris condemned the association ACT’UP and its activists who organized a mockery of a wedding in the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris in June 2005. Mgr. Patrick Jacquin, rector-archpriest of Notre Dame de Paris, has received 1 € in damages and interest in recompense for the mental distress caused, and 2,000 € in compensation. “The judgment,” explained the communiqué from the cathedral, “in conformity with constant jurisprudence, has noted the infringement of the fundamental principles of religious liberty, of the free exercise of worship and of respect for religious choice: any action not authorized by the responsible minister within a religious building, commits an offense against cultural choice and religious liberty, whatever may be the moment of its implementation.”
France: Plans for a large mosque in Marseille deferred
The administrative tribunal of Marseille has ordered the city to proceed with the cancellation of a 99 year leasing contract signed with the Association of the Mosque of Marseille. The former put a piece of land of 8,600m2 at the disposal of the Association with an annual rent of 300 € excluding tax, for the planned construction of a great mosque. The tribunal overturned the decision of the municipal Council of July 17, 2006 “for abuse of power”, for insufficient information from the councilors as regards finance where “the said lease constitutes a subsidy in disguise”. Moulay Abderrahane Ghoul, the president of the Regional Council of Muslim Worship of PACA (the Provence-Alpes-Rhone region of south-west France, said that this “political ruling (was) xenophobic and racist”, but that “nothing (was) lost. The essential has not been contested, above all the wishes of the city council (…) to build a mosque.” - Marseille has 62 places of Muslim worship.
United Kingdom: In the face of Islam
In mid-February, the weekly paper Kent on Sunday published the following article: “There exists today, an organized ideology which enters into confrontation with the West, and if the latter no longer pays any attention to its spiritual roots, it will be too late to resist this ideology.” “Islam functions as a political and coherent socio-economic ideology and it is these people whom we must confront. But how can we face up to them if we do not have the spiritual and moral resources to do so? I do not believe we are capable of it”. There will be a return to “a certain kind of barbarism” in Great Britain, if “the decline of Christianity continues.” Islam is the biggest threat facing the West since communism, declared the author of these lines, Michael Nazir-Ali, a 57 year old Anglican, born in Karachi (Pakistan), of a Shiite father who converted to Christianity.
