What a great idea which is of course, under attack by right wing extremists. Why should it be a problem for a Muslim to be immortalized after working a lifetime restoring a World Heritage cathedral? Anyone who has visited Spain is no doubt familiar with the beautiful Mudéjar architecture that is everywhere in the south. Should that all be destroyed because Muslims built some of the most stunning buildings of the 15th and 16th century? Extremists really need to get a life.
Why damage control? This was a nice thing to do so if people don't like it, tough. This was an exceptionally nice gesture and all religions could learn something from it.
A Muslim stonemason who spent nearly four decades helping to restore a Roman Catholic cathedral in France has been immortalized as a winged gargoyle peering out from its facade - with the inscription "God is great" written in French and Arabic.
It was conceived as a symbol of inter-religious friendship that reflects the city of Lyon's links to its large Muslim population. But a widely publicized outcry from a small extreme-right group has forced the Archdiocese of Lyon into damage control.
"This has nothing to do with religion. It's a sculptor who wants to pay homage to a construction site chief," said the Rev. Michel Cacaud, rector of the cathedral. "That's all."
