"Dieu est grand"
"Allahu Akbar"
A practical joke? Perhaps, but the head priest of the Catholic cathedral of St Jean in Lyons, France is not amused. It seems that the head sculptor doing restoration on the cathedral molded a gargoyle in his own image with the inscription, "God is Great" in both French and Arabic below.
When the head priest, Michel Cacaud, was reached for comment while on vacation, he was furious....
at having his vacation interrupted.
Here is the text from Gallia Watch:
"Did you ever...? It's a gargoyle, on the Cathedral of Saint-Jean in Lyons. It depicts a Muslim. Underneath are the words "God is great", in French AND in Arabic! How did it get there? Here's the story from Novopress, who also had the photos taken:
You won't find two like this on the churches of France, and the one that is now perched on one of the facades of the Cathedral of Saint-Jean is unique in more ways than one. The gargoyle that is being talked about in the neighborhood of Vieux-Lyon, portrays the head contractor in charge of the restoration of the North-West tower. To find his face, one fine morning, stuck onto the cathedral is not a routine event, even less so when the artisan in question, who works for the Comte Enterprise in the department of la Loire, is named Ahmed Benzizine and is a Muslim.
One detail that will please the ecumenicals: at the base of the gargoyle, you can read, "God is great" in French, but also in Arabic!
"Allah Akbar". Everyone can agree on that! It's not as if they had inscribed "Mohammed is our prophet..." was the comment from someone close to the diocese. Feeling that he was "disturbed during his vacation", Father Cacaud, priest of the cathedral, would not confirm that the diocese gave its approval, but the diocesan communications services, for their part, implied that it was true when they emphasized the "habit contractors have of taking liberties, somewhat on the periphery of the holy space."
Incredible. The head priest of the Lyons cathedral cannot be "disturbed" during his vacation? A Muslim contractor takes it upon himself to put his own likeness on the cathedral facade? Nobody stops him? They burned Jeanne d'Arc for a lot less.
Bear in mind that the Archbishop of Lyons is the Primate of Gaul. That Muslim builder knew what he was doing. Islam is now "incorporated" on the facade of the cathedral. Why doesn't the Archbishop intervene? Is this perhaps an example of inter-religious dialogue?
Click the Novopress link above for another photo, and visit François Desouche for hundreds of comments (in French, of course) and a video.
I became curious about Father Cacaud. A quick Google search turned up the following assessment of his character. Please take this with caution. I do not know anything about him, except what is in this post, nor am I trying to fault him on issues of which I have no knowledge. Finally, Golias - the website that furnished this information is also totally new to me.
It appears that he is not well-liked in general, and in 2007, when he was appointed to the position of auxiliary bishop of Lyons - the right-hand man of Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, Archbishop of Lyons and Primate of Gaul - there was much consternation:
This 50-year-old member of the (very conservative) "society of the priests of St. Irenaeus", an arrogant and mundane careerist, an unhesitant lover of "good food", fancies himself the authoritarian defender of a very conservative line. In short, a prince of the Church the likes of which the Bishopric had not seen in a long time.
The perspective of his nomination worries and profoundly saddens numerous Catholics, and not only those who align themselves with religious openness.
This man, who is likely to be elected, is viewed as brittle and impervious to the more human aspects of his future ministry. (...)
The author then questions the judgment of Archbishop Barbarin, in imposing on his presbyterium someone he knows is not desirable.
Note: A presbyterium is a college of priests."
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Meanwhile, a demonstration was held today in Paris by a group called Aperatif Republicain, to protest what they term the Islamic offensive in France. About 200 people turned out with French flags and sang French songs. (It is not known if the French singing nun performed "Dominique-a-nique-a nique".) Here is a news video in French:
(hat tip to Gallia)
Also in Paris, this is the reaction from Mona Lisa:
(Hat tip to the great Don Martin)
In other news, French President Sarkozy is going ahead with deportations of gypsies in France (which is long overdue).
Police raid gypsy camp outside Calais.
So, if you're thinking of going to Europe next year, here's my tip:
2 comments:
How could any Christian object to the statement "God is Great"? Isn't it the first line of a common table grace?
(I would be interested in whether the Arabic was written authentically in Arabic characters, or whether it was bastardized in Latin character, in which case "Allah" doesn't look like what it is in Arabic, "The God."
Who's objecting? I'm having a good laugh about it. I do think that there might be some objection about the sculptor putting his own likeness on the gargoyle.
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