Islamic Tolerance Alert from Reuters, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:
SHKODER, Albania (Reuters) – Muslims in Albania’s northern city of Shkoder are opposing plans to erect a statue to Mother Teresa, the ethnic Albanian Catholic nun in line for elevation to sainthood by the Vatican.
The dispute is unusual for Albania, where religion was banned for 27 years under the regime of dictator Enver Hoxha and where religious harmony and mixed marriages are the norm.
Seventy percent of the population are liberal Muslims, the rest are Christian Orthodox and Catholic.
But Muslim groups in Shkoder rejected the local council plan for a Teresa statue, saying it “would offend the feelings of Muslims.”
“We do not want this statue to be erected in a public place because we see her as a religious figure,” said Bashkim Bajraktari, Shkoder’s mufti or Muslim religious leader.
“If there must be a statue, let it be in a Catholic space.”