Muslim prayer rooms in Catholic Schools

[thedavidwilson]

Universities are a little different. They cater to many ethnic groups and religious situations.

Why should a CATHOLIC University cater to muslims or any other false faith? Catholicism is about the Truth. Accomodating Muslims and thier false beliefs is contrary to the Truth and is a sin.

 

[KathleenElsie]

Why should a CATHOLIC University cater to muslims or any other false faith? Catholicism is about the Truth. Accomodating Muslims and thier false beliefs is contrary to the Truth and is a sin.

I don’t think they should. Yet until they limit their students to Catholics and do not take government grants and other monies they don’t have much choice. The Catholic based organizations need to turn back to being Catholic and forgo the government money and regulations.

There are only a few schools that are still true to Holy Mother Church. This stands true for primary and university levels. We home school and use a classic (read traditional) Catholic curriculum.

 

[thedavidwilson]

I don’t think they should. Yet until they limit their students to Catholics and do not take government grants and other monies they don’t have much choice. The Catholic based organizations need to turn back to being Catholic and forgo the government money and regulations.

There are only a few schools that are still true to Holy Mother Church. This stands true for primary and university levels. We home school and use a classic (read traditional) Catholic curriculum.

I agree. They can allow other faiths to attend but they should not compromise the Catholic faith because of it. If a muslim wants to attend then they need to realize it is a Catholic University. I would be for manditory daily Mass attendence. If accepting public funds prevents the school from being Catholic then the Chruch should not be accepting the funds. Same goes for hospitals and other Catholic institutions.

I think the thing that hamstrings the US Catholic Church the most is the non-profit status and its related restrictions.

What this comes down to is our Catholic Leaders having some backbone and defending the faith.We have too few that do.

 

[KathleenElsie]

I agree. They can allow other faiths to attend but they should not compromise the Catholic faith because of it. If a muslim wants to attend then they need to realize it is a Catholic University. I would be for manditory daily Mass attendence. If accepting public funds prevents the school from being Catholic then the Chruch should not be accepting the funds. Same goes for hospitals and other Catholic institutions.

I think the thing that hamstrings the US Catholic Church the most is the non-profit status and its related restrictions.

What this comes down to is our Catholic Leaders having some backbone and defending the faith.We have too few that do.

I fully agree. I also think that if The Church were to take the case of taxation to SCOTUS I think the rules could be changed. I sometimes wonder what Our Lord would do with those that accept the government money and then sell out the institutions we called Catholic. Social services, hospitals, schools are just a few.

I also see the time when we are sued to allow women and gays into the priesthood. I pray this will not happen. But then I prayed for and voted for the loosing party.

 

[Neil_Anthony]

When a muslim prays to God, that is a good thing. It honors God. I don’t understand why people are so offended by this.

Those muslim kids praying 5 times a day are a good example to the catholic kids at that school. How many of them pray 5 times a day?

 

[Lujack]

I don’t think they should. Yet until they limit their students to Catholics and do not take government grants and other monies they don’t have much choice. The Catholic based organizations need to turn back to being Catholic and forgo the government money and regulations.

There are only a few schools that are still true to Holy Mother Church. This stands true for primary and university levels. We home school and use a classic (read traditional) Catholic curriculum.

I disagree with this. I think accepting students of all faiths is a fantastic way to minister to those of other faiths through displaying the truth and beauty of the Catholic faith. I know people on here like to rip on the best place on Earth ( , see my username), but the University of Notre Dame is a perfect example.

When I went there for my prospective student tour (no, I sadly did not get accepted), it was given by a convert to the Catholic faith, who converted solely because of her time at the university. There’s a chapel in every dorm with a Sunday night mass (attendance is apparently very high), and Mass in the Basilica in the morning is also quite crowded. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a more spiritual place.

I also don’t see the point of requiring daily Mass attendance. It isn’t a requirement of the Church that you go to Mass every day.

 

[Elizabeth502]

When, by your behavior, you must apologize for your distinct character, you have lost your identity.

In my day, there was a reverential flavor to a Catholic school that carried over from the church site to the school on the same grounds. It would have been unthinkable to consider transforming the location into an exercise in ecumenism or multiculturalism.

 

[Elizabeth502]

I also don’t see the point of requiring daily Mass attendance. It isn’t a requirement of the Church that you go to Mass every day.

If an intent of a private educational institution is to form souls as well as minds, then the requirement of daily mass attendance is in keeping with that goal.

For the RC church, as opposed to a school, weekly Mass attendance is a bare minimum essential. More frequent attendance is strongly encouraged by the Church in order to be more truly formed in Christ’s likeness.

I also very much agree with those who support relinquishing nonprofit status in areas which threaten to compromise Catholic identity or principles. I very much additionally support Church/State separation to preserve the distinct character of each.

 

[barb_finnegan]

Why should a CATHOLIC University cater to muslims or any other false faith? Catholicism is about the Truth. Accomodating Muslims and thier false beliefs is contrary to the Truth and is a sin.

I’m with you-why do we Catholics have to ‘roll over’ to accomodate the Moslems (I spell it that way)?

I have a priest friend in England who has a school in his parish-I wonder if he will have to ‘cave in’ to the PC practices of the English/Welsh episcopate.

I say, kick all the Moslems out and send them back to where they came from!

 

[Lujack]

I say, kick all the Moslems out and send them back to where they came from!

I’m sure some of the Muslims I know would be amused by your sentiments, but some of them happen to be native born. Unless you intend to forcibly send Jews to Israel, Catholics to Rome, the Eastern Orthodox to Constantinople, and the Lutherans to Germany, that plan seems a little bit silly to me.

 

[barb_finnegan]

I’m sure some of the Muslims I know would be amused by your sentiments, but some of them happen to be native born. Unless you intend to forcibly send Jews to Israel, Catholics to Rome, the Eastern Orthodox to Constantinople, and the Lutherans to Germany, that plan seems a little bit silly to me.

Yes, I know that sounded harsh…but why do we have to bend over backwards to accomodate them? Why should they go to Catholic schools anyway?

Is it because they don’t do birth control or abort their children-something to think about…

 

[Lujack]

Yes, I know that sounded harsh…but why do we have to bend over backwards to accomodate them? Why should they go to Catholic schools anyway?

Is it because they don’t do birth control or abort their children-something to think about…

They go to Catholic schools because, generally, Catholic schools provide a great education. I don’t know if building prayer rooms is the answer, but there’s always an empty room somewhere in a school, and I don’t see a problem with reserving an empty room where they can go pray.

 

[Lepanto]

The Jesuit educational system (of which the aforementioned Creighton University is a member), from its beginning in the 16th century, has always admitted non-Catholic students.

The Jesuits often established schools (from elementary to university) in Protestant and then non-Christian lands in order to attract non-Catholic students by the quality academics. The Jesuits did this with express intent of making converts out of the students. These schools were one of the primary evangelization tools used by the Jesuits, and this was never a secret.

St. Ignatius did not found the congregation to merely educate minds, but to win souls for Christ through the Catholic Church. A Moslem prayer room or a Protestant service on a Jesuit campus is antithetical to authentic Ignatian principles.

St. Ignatius of Loyola was not PC.

 

[Grace_Angel]

Because when is the last time a Moslem school produced a nobel winner?

And because its cheaper and maybe even free for the privilege of teaching a Muslin child to be anti Christian. Sorry as a former teacher have seen things which curled my thinned white hair.
I wonder if a Muslim school would create a Catholic room for a Catholic (or even Christian) child to pray in?
GraceAngel

 

[Lujack]

And because its cheaper and maybe even free for the privilege of teaching a Muslin child to be anti Christian. Sorry as a former teacher have seen things which curled my thinned white hair.
I wonder if a Muslim school would create a Catholic room for a Catholic (or even Christian) child to pray in?
GraceAngel

If that’s the case, isn’t it good to try and get Muslims into Catholic schools? Isn’t that a fine opportunity to preach the Gospel, with and without using words?

 

[Grace_Angel]

If that’s the case, isn’t it good to try and get Muslims into Catholic schools? Isn’t that a fine opportunity to preach the Gospel, with and without using words?

Sorry Lujack you live in a fantasy world in regard to this matter.
G/Angel.

 

[Lujack]

Sorry Lujack you live in a fantasy world in regard to this matter.
G/Angel.

Or maybe I just went to a really good Catholic high school, where several of my classmates wound up converting. And maybe I have a Time Magazine article about the spirituality of the University of Notre Dame tacked up on my bedroom wall at home, which profiles non-Catholic students who converted to Catholicism or became more active in their own faiths during their time at Notre Dame.

 

[KathleenElsie]

Or maybe I just went to a really good Catholic high school, where several of my classmates wound up converting. And maybe I have a Time Magazine article about the spirituality of the University of Notre Dame tacked up on my bedroom wall at home, which profiles non-Catholic students who converted to Catholicism or became more active in their own faiths during their time at Notre Dame.

Did you also see some catholics that converted to other religions? How many of your classmates are at the very least weekly Mass goers?

Did the article on Notre Dame mention how many turned to other religions? I just want to remind you that this is a two way street. Because if it led to more converts to Holy Mother Church our pews would be packed and there would be a need to build new parishes. Since the fact is that more of the catholics are becoming protestant your reasoning is weak to say the least.

 

[Lujack]

Did you also see some catholics that converted to other religions? How many of your classmates are at the very least weekly Mass goers?

At my high school, I didn’t see anyone de-convert, although there were two kids who came in and went out as atheists, and a group of Protestants that stayed Protestants. There was also a minority that came in lukewarm Catholics, and went out lukewarm Catholics. But the number of strong Catholics grew.

Did the article on Notre Dame mention how many turned to other religions? I just want to remind you that this is a two way street. Because if it led to more converts to Holy Mother Church our pews would be packed and there would be a need to build new parishes. Since the fact is that more of the catholics are becoming protestant your reasoning is weak to say the least.

The article on Notre Dame didn’t mention other religions, but I’d like to point that a high school and a university (a small university, just 3,000 per class) can’t turn the tide alone, no matter how good a job they do. I do know, though, that Notre Dame has a chapel in every single dorm that offers Mass each day and three times on Sunday, in addition to the famous basilica.

My reasoning isn’t weak, because it wasn’t seeking to prove that Mass attendance isn’t declining, it was seeking to prove that schools that welcome all faiths are not the cause.

 

[Letchitsa1]

This is probably a stupid question, but why would Muslim parents send their children to Catholic school in the first place?

They do it in this country because the Catholic schools provide a better education than the public school alternatives.