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Germany’s biggest mosque opens; Church wants freedom in Turkey

The opening of the biggest mosque in Germany has prompted politicians and church representatives to demand more religious freedom for Christians in Turkey, reports Wolfgang Polzer, special to ASSIST News Service.

The mosque of the Turkish Ditib Merkez community in Duisburg was officially opened October 26. The mosque has a capacity of 1,200 visitors; the minaret stands 111 feet tall.

The prime minister of the federal state of North-Rhine-Westphalia, Juergen Ruettgers, welcomed the building of the mosque as a meeting place for dialog between different cultures and religions.

He also urged Turkish immigrants to support the building of churches in Turkey. The places, where the apostle Paul had first founded churches, should remain visible.

The new mosque is situated in the Ruhr industrial region in a quarter of Duisburg where approximately one third of the 18,000 inhabitants are of Turkish descent. The Muslim congregation has 740 members.

The President of the Protestant Church of the Rhineland, Nikolaus Schneider, welcomed the fact that the building project had been discussed with neighbors, churches and schools. He also mentioned critical voices asking why big mosques are being built while more and more churches are closed for lack of members.

Schneider also encouraged representatives of the state of Turkey to continue to strive for more religious freedom at home. The peaceful co-existence between Christians and Muslims in Duisburg could set an example, said Schneider.

Meanwhile the German interior minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, is concerned that the size of mosque-buildings should not be exaggerated. They should reflect the membership of the Muslim congregations.

Germany is a country of religious tolerance, but it is also a country with a Christian majority, he said. Approximately two thirds of the 82 million inhabitants are church members. Muslims number about 3.5 million.

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TAGS: Germany Turkey biggest mosque religious freedom Protestant Church

[10/31/2008]

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