France: Catholic diocese finances construction of mosque

In discussing a Catholic bishop’s recent construction of a mosque in Nigeria, I said it was an act of charity, albeit a foolish one, but I was wrong. Neither that action in Nigeria nor this one in France is an act of charity. It is not doing the Muslims any favors to affirm them in a belief system that tells them that hatred, contempt, and violence are blessed by the deity. Nor is either bishop acting charitably toward his own people who may bear the consequences of what is taught in the mosques built with Church funds. This mosque-building by Catholics is a mistaken idea of what constitutes charity, not surprising amid the general confusion of our age, in which being nice is routinely conflated with being charitable, when there are numerous instances in which they are not the same thing.

“French Diocese Finances Mosque,” Gloria.tv, April 17, 2021 (thanks to Tom):

Tours Diocese donated money for the construction of a local mosque, LaNouvelleRepublique.fr (April 13) reported.

Tours Bishop Vincent Jordy justified his donation on April 15 with the fact that for John Paul II’s 1996 visit to the city, the local Muslims made a symbolic donation which the diocese wanted to reciprocate. Riposte-Catholique.fr adds that in 2015, Auch Diocese – where John Paul II never visited – donated €5000 for a mosque.

In 732, Charles Martel won the famous Battle of Tours against Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi’s large army of horsemen preventing an Islamic conquest of France. Today, Tours city has 5 well attended mosques, and 17 mostly overaged parishes.