VENICE, Italy (LifeSiteNews) — The Catholic bishop of Venice, Italy, backed the construction of a mosque in the historic city.
On September 14, Archbishop Francesco Moraglia, Patriarch of Venice, expressed support for the proposed construction of a mosque in Mestre, the mainland district of Venice, calling for a place where Muslims can worship – provided that the project respects “Italian law, the Constitution, and women’s rights.” Moraglia also called for dialogue between the authorities and the local Muslim community.
“We all have the right to have a suitable place in which to pray,” Moraglia said. “There is a right to religious freedom, and there is a right to expect that all religions respect the fundamental rights of every person, especially the most vulnerable. I am thinking in particular of women.”
“There is a need to distinguish politics from religion without separating the two,” the Patriarch of Venice concluded.
The proposed mosque concerns the Muslim community in Mestre, including the local Bangladeshi community. The project became the subject of disagreement between the community and the Municipality of Venice. City authorities said they are open to dialogue but have also called for evidence of genuine integration before authorizing the project.
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However, in Italy, and particularly in the Veneto region, tensions have grown amid large-scale immigration in recent months. There is a widespread perception of rising crime and urban disorder associated with a segment of the immigrant population, primarily from Africa and Asia, and often of a Muslim background. Many local residents also believe that law enforcement and the judiciary have not responded adequately to the crimes.
The district of Mestre recently became the center of public debate after a controversy at a local school, the Caio Giulio Cesare comprehensive institute. Data released in recent days show that students without Italian citizenship make up as much as 98 percent of the student body in some sections within the school. According to reports in the local press, tensions in the school between the Italians and mostly Bangladeshi immigrants has contributed to a significant turnover among custodial and administrative staff. The situation is further complicated by a significant language barrier, with many migrant students and their families having little or no knowledge of Italian.
During the night of September 17-18, a banner reading, “Your integration is our marginalization,” directed at the families of immigrant students, was hung outside the school. The incident prompted swift condemnation from labor unions, left-wing political groups and associations, as well as social activist organizations, but also from the local Catholic church.
On September 19, the Patriarch of Moraglia issued a statement after anti-Islamic inscriptions appeared at the park where Muslims gather to pray and outside the Giulio Cesare school. He described the atmosphere in the city as increasingly marked by “tension, aversion and intolerance” and called for “continued dialogue.”