Saving the cathedral

Over 115 thousand people signed the online petition on HazteOir.org in the framework of the campaign launched by the platform for the defence of religious freedom in Spain, MasLibres.org, with the purpose of preventing the expropriation of the Cathedral of Córdoba. The campaign kicked off past March 5, when some groups funded by Local Council of Andalusia launched a manifesto to expropriate the temple from its legitimate owner, the Catholic Church. In fact, the Council claims that the temple belongs to everyone, and not to the Church only. The presidency of the Andalusia government has no yet given an official reply to over one hundred thousand citizens demanding with online requests to invalidate the proceedings aimed at taking possession of the right of the Church over the cathedral. The spokesperson of the MasLibres.org platform, Miguel Vidal, claims that “historical and legal evidence is blatant, the intention to strip the Church of the ownership of the cathedral are ridiculous and ineffective”. The online petitions add on to a parallel campaign for the collection of signatures on paper. “Legal and economic blunder”. As regards the petition demanding the expropriation of the ancient temple, the Spanish minister of Justice, Alberto Ruiz Gallardón, said that this idea is a “legal blunder” considering that legislation regulating historical and artistic heritage stipulates that expropriation take place only in case of deterioration, risk of ruin or incompatibility. For the minister none of these cases can be applied to the cathedral. According to Ruiz Gallardón, this move is also an “economic bundle” as for expropriations the Constitution envisages high reimbursements in the case of a monument such as that in Córdoba. Also the mayor of Córdoba, José Antonio Nieto, said he “strongly opposes” the intention to expropriate the cathedral from the Catholic Church, underlining that the Church has protected and guarded over the emblematic temple, “to the full satisfaction of the city of Córdoba”. Respecting the truth. In an interview the spokesperson and secretary general of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, José María Gil Tamayo, pointed out: “I personally believe that it’s a polemic marked by a strong ideological drive, an old-dated form of secularism and a populist approach that fails to respect history and religious freedom”. On the question intervened also the Chapter of the cathedral in Córdoba. “Given the intention of confounding the public opinion on the ownership of the Cathedral in Córdoba”, inside which is located an ancient mosque – states a release – “the chapter hereby declares that all Spanish legislation, European legislation and international law confirms that the legitimate owner of the temple since 1236 is the Catholic Church. It is described as such in a large number of legal and historical documents”. As regards the alleged support to the expropriation cause by UNESCO (the basilica has been listed as a “Cultural heritage” site) the Chapter made known to the group demanding the cathedral’s expropriation that it is not the UNESCO but an “NGO founded in 1994 with head office in Granada that supports UNESCO objectives and is financed, inter alia, by Andalusia’s town council”. Moreover, it should be pointed out that “since 1236 the Chapter of the Córdoba cathedral is the one that put utmost efforts in the protection, care and respect of the cultural and artistic legacy of the temple”. Not only: “The Chapter’s management of the Córdoba cathedral, its ancient mosque, represents and faithfully respects each and every feature whereby it was granted the title of World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1984. In fact, over the past years, thanks to the conservation and promotion works of the chapter”, the cathedral was awarded “major recognitions at national level and was declared one of the most important monuments in Europe”. The Chapter thus appealed to policymakers, civil society organization and the media “to deal with the truth of the matter with responsibility, sensitivity and respect, given the harsh polemics broken out at international level, which are also damaging the image of the city of Córdoba”. The history. The Cathedral is famous because inside it also stands an Islamic mosque of magnificent beauty. The basilica was originally erected in 550, in 714 half of it was occupied by the Muslims who had conquered the city, and who destroyed the basilica in 786 to build a mosque in its place. In 1236 King Ferdinand III recaptured the city and restored Catholic worship, donating the property to the Church, which in 1523 built a renaissance Basilica whilst preserving the mosque’s architecture inside.