This is the same school that Muslims want to transform into an Islamic school. From our Islam-Respects-Other-Religions Department: “Muslim parents to meet church over school row,” from The Herald, with thanks to Twostellas:
Catholic church leaders will meet Muslim parents this week after their children were withdrawn from a primary school Mass.
Divisions over religion deepened at St Albert’s RC primary in Pollokshields, Glasgow, after parents withdrew children during Friday’s service.The action prompted Father John Gannon, the parish priest who celebrated the Mass, to describe the Muslim parents as “extremists”. The parents in turn accused the churchman of potentially inciting “religious and racial hatred”.
However, a spokesman for the Catholic church confirmed it was due to meet parents in an attempt to resolve the situation.
He added: “St Albert’s is a Catholic school and therefore it is perfectly normal for a priest to celebrate Mass there regularly. Children at the school are taught to respect all faiths and no-one is obliged to assist at religious ceremonies . . . Those who chose to disrupt the children’s observance with noisy protest do themselves no favours.”
Around 12 Muslim pupils were removed from the Mass following claims that the children were forced to participate in monthly services because teachers were unable to supervise them elsewhere.
The allegations were used to add weight last month to Muslim calls for the school to change its faith so that it could better represent the make-up of its 300-plus pupils, who are predominantly Islamic.
However, Father Gannon criticised the parents’ actions during his Sunday sermon at St Albert’s Church. He spoke of how a dozen protesters gathered just before Mass started.
He said: “Had this been about attendance at Mass, they would have followed the regulations and given the school advance notice, as indeed one person did.
“By their deliberate and sustained disruption it is clear that their intention was to show their contempt for the Christian faith.
“It was especially ironic that they chose to deliver this insult on the day Muslims throughout Europe were expressing outrage at the disrespect shown to their prophet.”