Muslims cut down, paint over 10,000 crosses to convert former Roman Catholic church to mosque. Plan approved by US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Syracuse Landmark Preservation Board, funded by U.S. tax dollars.
In addition to being yet another violation of the establishment of religion clause in the First Amendment under the Obama administration, this is an ominous sign of our times, a sign of the spread of Islam in America, and the collapse of Christianity. The breaking of crosses and conversion of churches into mosques is widespread in Europe, but not yet so much in America.
Muslim Prophecy Fulfilled?
For observant Muslims, this and similar conversions of churches to mosques will be seen as early fulfillment of one of Muhammad’s prophecies about the end times, when, Muslims believe, Jesus will return to “break the crosses”:
Isa (the Muslim Jesus) will return and “fight the people for the cause of Islam. He will break the cross, kill the swine and abolish jizya” and establish the rule of Allah throughout the world (Hadith from Sunan Abu Dawud, Book of Battles, 37:4310).
The Islamic State (aka ISIS/ISIL), Al Qaeda and other jihad groups hold to this apocalyptic scenario, as Ryan Mauro notes:
[Their] offensiveness at the sight of a cross comes from these teachings [about the cross] about Sharia. Since they believe Jesus finds it so offensive that he will one day break the crosses, these Islamists believe they are commanded to likewise be offended by Christianity and the symbol of the cross in particular… Islamist terrorists like Al-Qaeda can cite authoritative Sharia rulings to show that attacks on Christianity are permitted before Jesus’ descent from heaven.
When Islamists destroy crosses or talk of destroying the cross, they are emulating the anger they believe Jesus has towards the cross.
What’s in a name?
The closed parish was named “Holy Trinity.” Those familiar with the Quran know that it vehemently rejects the Christian revelation of God as Trinity:
Say not “Trinity”: desist: It will be better for you: For God is One God: Glory be to Him: (Far Exalted is He) above having a son. . . . (Sura 4:173)
They do blaspheme who say: “God is Christ the son of Mary . . .” They do blaspheme who say: God is one of three in a Trinity: for there is no god except One God. If they desist not from their word (of blasphemy), verily a grievous penalty will befall the blasphemers among them (Sura 5:75,78)
The number of crosses covered over — 10,000 — is a deeply symbolic number, and was no doubt chosen by the Holy Trinity Church founders based on Revelation 5:11:
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands…
Importantly, the “breaking of the crosses” in Syracuse is a direct result of the growing Muslim refugee population, and the success of Islam’s immigration jihad (or hijra). Amazingly, the sale of the church for conversion to a mosque was enabled by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, and paid for by U.S. taxpayers. Per Counter Jihad Report:
While the US Catholic population has grown by more than half to 69 million according to Catholic World News, nevertheless 1,800 parishes have closed over the past 20 years.
One of those parish churches that closed is Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church in Syracuse, New York, that held its last Mass in February 2010. Now, it is being purchased and converted into a Mosque by the burgeoning refugee population in Central New York. The irony is that this is being abetted by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, one of the leading voluntary agencies, VOLAGS, engaged in processing refugee resettlement. It and other contractors are funded by US taxpayers under programs administered by our State and Health and Human Services Departments.
Muslims converting a church to a mosque, breaking and covering over ten-thousand crosses, all enabled through inter-faith dialogue with Catholic bishops, using taxpayer dollars, hearkens back to the days of the dhimma contract and the Pact of Omar. Consider this an early installment of jizya.
“Syracuse: Muslims cut down, paint over 10,000 crosses to convert church to mosque,” by Creeping Sharia — August 17, 2015 (Comments in italics below in original post.)
ISIS destroys Christian symbols in the Middle East. Boko Haram attacks churches and churchgoers in Africa. In the west, the process is more refined… for now. via From church to mosque: Syracuse Islamic group cuts crosses, tries to connect to neighborhood | syracuse.com.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Two gray church spires grow out of a bumpy plain of city rooftops along Park Street. The skyline is the same as it has been for the better part of a century until you look closer at Holy Trinity Church: There are slim copper crescents where, for 100 years, there had been crosses.
The six crosses were removed and replaced at the end of June. Four of them were massive: 600 pounds of concrete each, and more than 4 feet tall. The step was the last, and most visible, in the building’s change from church to mosque.
The transformation has been a series of careful choices aimed at balancing the forces of two religions in a neighborhood that is shifting. The North Side, once full of Italian and German immigrants, is increasingly home to new Americans who are refugees from countries where Islam is the dominant religion.
Even as the crosses were cut from the church spires on the outside, and 10,000 crosses were painted over on the inside, the new owners of 501 Park St. tried to leave what they could, and reuse what they couldn’t.
The wood from the pews has been repurposed to fix the floor, which is where Muslims sit to pray. Painters worked to make the minbar, the pulpit where the imam stands, blend in with the stonework. The name of the mosque is Masjid Isa Ibn Maryam, which translates to Mosque of Jesus Son of Mary.
Is this the history we want to leave for future generations? It will be and it will get much worse if Muslim immigration is not halted and/or reversed very soon.
The cost to buy and transform the church was great: $300,000 and counting, said Yusuf Soule, the volunteer director of the North Side Learning Center, which bought the property and is overseeing the mosque construction.
But the physical work and fundraising has been the easy part of the transformation.
Soule stood inside the mosque, his nearly 7-foot frame diminished by the vastness of the space. The 50-foot ceilings seem higher than they were when there were church pews and an altar inside the building. Painters, paid and volunteer, were up on ladders for weeks, painting over some 10,000 crosses, Soule said.
The crosses were turned into other designs, or, in some cases, covered over by gray paint so they blended into the walls.
Covering those 10,000 crosses was a small feat when compared with what it took to remove the crosses from the church spires. That took months of back and forth with the city’s Landmark Preservation Board, submitting and resubmitting plans for removing the crosses and storing them onsite, which the board required.
On June 29, Paul Waelder rode a crane to the top of the church. Along with workers from Giarrosso Sheet Metal, Waelder spent two days 200 feet in the air, working first with concrete saws to remove the crosses. Then his son, David Waelder, an artist and metal worker, hammered the domes and crescents into place. The crescents are smaller, less than a foot, on top of thin metal spires. They cover up the lightning rods that were part of the crosses and had to be left to protect the building.
Paul Waelder said the high-profile job came with two stipulations: no talking to the press and no pictures or video of the cross removal.
Waelder understood. “They had a bull’s eye on their backs,” he said. “They are doing good things over there.”
So good they didn’t allow Waelder to talk to the press or allow anyone to take pictures of the crosses being taken down. Did they not want to catch Muslims cheering?
Watching the crosses come down off of Holy Trinity was hard for the people who found their spiritual home there, week after week, year after year.
Anne Angiolillo raised her 10 children spending every Sunday in the pews of Holy Trinity. She opposed taking down the crosses, and cried inside when it was done, she said.
Angiolillo moved from the neighborhood last year, but when she goes back and looks to the sky now, it seems empty. “They’re missing,” she said. “They really were a landmark.”
Even now, Soule was reluctant to have pictures taken of the massive crosses. After they were removed from the building, they were carefully wrapped in plastic and cloth. They look a bit like mummies. The two copper crosses, less than 100 pounds each, were easier to remove. They are not wrapped.
The city allowed Soule’s group to take the crosses down, but it also required them to keep the crosses at 501 Park St. Soule said the hope is that the crosses can be kept in a way that lets the public see them. But the final plan hasn’t been worked out.
Why would the city allow them to take down the crosses then keep them on site? Don’t hold your breath waiting for a plan.
Read it all to notice the inherent Islamophilia in the Muslims-good, Americans-bad puff piece by Marnie Eisenstadt.
Our previous coverage of the church-now-mosque and previous Eisenstadt Islamophilia here.
Alarmed Pig Farmer says
Plan approved by US Conference of Catholic Bishops.
You know, Pope Frank is starting to look at lot like Mitch McConnell or John Boehner. On his knees with his pants around his ankles, his face scrunched up in pained anticipation, a tub of lard sitting on the middle of his back. I can only thank the Lord that there are no lame duck sessions in religion. No wait, the Roman Catholic Church has *become* a lame duck session.
mortimer says
The Pope just canonized an Assyrian martyr murdered by Muslims. I think he’s beginning to get it.
bobm says
martyrs die in their thousands daily.. Saints walk , talk, and live and die in Christ throughout the world.. not one is forgotten…. in contrast to RC delegatory , self effacing religiosity.
fido says
This is further evidence of the continuing fulfillment of prophecy. Eventually islam will be gone and, unlike the perverted muslim description of Jesus’ return he will, instead, be clearing the earth of the muslim disease and all that satan has wrought on earth. It’s so sad that millions of muslims have been misled by the “religion of peace”.
Jovial Joe says
It is a contentious issue whether the Islamisation of the West is best opposed by strengthening the Christian faith among our populations or, instead, by going the secular route of complete separation of church/mosque and state. Personally I believe the welcome social liberalisations of Western countries since the Second World War to have occured in direct proportion to Christianity’s decline and that it is a war AGAINST religion – not OF RELIGIONS – that is required in order to defeat Islam. It isn’t ‘Bishops’ who will win this fight but those who despise the religious imperative altogether, especially one that seeks earthly power.
Tiredofstupid says
Amen !!
TheOldOligarch says
”Those that despise the religious imperative altogether” will be far too busy with their televised sports and their porn addictions to do anything to stop Islam. Do you honestly expect these limping, anemic socialist welfare states that we now have in place of Christian nations to summon the strength or will to do anything about their impending doom?
From where does a population that fundamentally believes there is nothing more to existence than whatever pleasures you can grab in the few years you have between birth and death draw such strength and resolve?
Jovial Joe says
You think the pleasure-loving folk will meekly give up their porn and beer in accordance with some Islamic diktat? Think again bro; it’s those frigid, abstemious Christians already accustomed to living like monks you gotta worry about!
Jovial Joe says
AKA, Catholic Bishops!
Jack Gordon says
Just keep prattling on, Joe, as you head falls to the ground. Islam loves deluded chumps like you. They know, but you don’t, that you can’t beat something with nothing. And you believe precisely nothing as your words reveal.
gravenimage says
TOO, There are Agnostics and Atheists here at JIhad Watch who also bravely oppose the savagery of Islam. There are certainly some, but the idea that all secularists care about nothing but fleeting pleasure and are hampered by “porn addictions” is really calumny.
Jack Gordon says
So what? What possible meaning can calumny, detraction, slander, etc., have for anyone who believes in nothing but himself, or who pretends to believe in some vague “spirit” or ”universal good”? Absent the Commandments given by a very real God to Moses, I’m free to do what I damn well please as long as I can figure out how to get away with it, and the Devil take the hindmost.
Jovial Joe says
Jack Gordon – only a complete tool like you would have the gall to lecture others on morality when their own is something they’ve had to borrow from a bronze age work of fiction that is replete with divinely sanctioned genocide, slavery and rape. In other words you’re just like the muslim scum who think they know best in telling people how they should live their lives. Asshat.
gravenimage says
Jack, you may believe it is right to commit calumny against Atheists and lie about them because you deem them worthless, but this is *not* a Christian view.
gerard says
It is precisely the secularisation of the West that has allowed Islam to gain access and to advance its deadly programme. In earlier times Catholic/Christian Europe withstood the Islam invaders at Vienna 1683, at Lepanto and many others. Now the convictionless West is as butter for the hot knife of Islam. People who believe in nothing cannot withstand the attack of convicted Muslims who believe in something however bad, as we see every day in the news.
Jovial Joe says
I have as strong a conviction that no religious whackjob psychopaths are going to dictate to me how I live my life as religious whackjob psychopaths do in their ridiculous skyfaires. And I’m sure all genuine secularists hold just as strong a conviction (genuine secularists not to be confused with the idiotic, wooly-headed, multi-culti-loving lefties who comprise most of our university graduates nowadays).
gerard says
Hey Joe (I feel a song coming on) just map the events. I have no wish to challenge your personal convictions but tell me, has secular europe withstood Islamic Hijra (into europe)?
Westman says
Actually, Gerard, I think Joe has some validity in the attitude that non-liberal secularists may be more likely to resist with determined force than religionists. I don’t agree with the criticism of Christian religionists as weak; agreeing only that they are unlikely to initiate hostilities without the approval of a religious authority. Secularists are likely to have little or no limits to the level of their response, or to hesitation, being less subjected to some ecclesiastical authority.
It is liberalism, rather than secularism, that has made Europe weak. Let’s play a game of Rugby with some Irish or New Zealand secularists and we’ll see right away that they are not the pacifists of Europe.
gerard says
But look at the history. Christian europe resisted Islam. Post-Christian europe failed to see Islam as a threat and the doors were thrown open. There are now around 50 million muslims in europe and more are being brought in daily. English people are now the minority in London. Look at Sweden and France. They are well on the way to losing their country and the Leftist governments don’t seem to mind. There are now muslim mayors in formerly english towns.
gravenimage says
Gerard, I’m afraid Christians have in many cases been as slow as secularists to see the danger from Islam.
We were actually so successful in beating Islam back from about 1800-1950 that most Westerners–both religious and non-religious–forgot what a threat it represents to us.
mortimer says
JJ wrote: “It is a contentious issue whether the Islamization of the West is best opposed by strengthening the Christian faith among our populations”.
Not contentious at all. What’s going to work to deprogram Muslims?
The churches have a big opportunity to evangelize Muslims at this time of massed Muslim immigration. They are losing the chance! THAT IS UNPARDONABLE!
Jovial Joe says
As far as I can see conversion to anything BUT Islam would be a good thing, including to irreligiousness as is the case with many ex-muslims.
gerard says
They prefer “dialogue”!
Huck Folder says
Can anyone show if ANY public funds/grants went to that mosquestrosity, that could be brought up as a case of non separation of church and state?
Shmooviyet says
The reality–and the reporting– is sickening!!
“… home to new Americans who are refugees from countries where Islam is the dominant religion”.
‘New Americans’?? Refugees from what?!
This story was either written by CAIR or by some a-hole who hasn’t been paying attention.
Going back and forth between nausea and fury over the allowance of this desecration.
Linde Barrera says
It was always my understanding that once the Landmark Preservation Board was involved in a building, things couldn’t be changed! So you learn something new everyday. It is such a shame that a church is being converted into a mosque. Should be the other way around. This is sad and grievious.
Shmooviyet says
Very likely could have been the rule in the past. Just another example of creeping sharia adjusting laws, ordinances, customs, etc. for the never-ending benefit of the “new Americans”.
Christopher says
I wonder how church attendance and other demographic changes, if at all, create these divestitures of Christian churches. That is, if a church is not being used, then why should we deny another faith someplace to worship? I cannot help but say that the decline in dedication to the practice of faith by Christians does leave a void that you can see in empty real estate. In religion, passion and practice always prevail. Muslims are a minority here and they obviously have more devotion than some people who have a Christian heritage but are not practicing. In religion, those who practice will set the agenda. This is a wake-up call for Christians and non-Muslim denominations. I am liberal but I don’t ever want to be forced to convert to Islam. Practice your faith or you will lose it.
Dsecendantofacrusader says
I am truly sickened by this human spiritual tragedy. The gargoyles of Satan must be by now looking down from the once majestic spires of Holy Trinity Catholic Church with evil grins upon their horrific faces. I think, perhaps, that I am sickened most, however, by the facilitating and enabling Conference of Catholic Bishops who will someday have to answer for their evil deed against Christ. This once great Christian edifice should have been burned to the ground rather than be defiled in this way!
gerard says
“This once great Christian edifice should have been burned to the ground rather than be defiled in this way!”
Amen! and Amen!
Westman says
All this Islamophilia is based on ignorance.
Just recently Louis Farrakhon(Nation Of Islam) has has been speaking in Christian churches to drum up support for the 10/10/15, “Justice Or Else”, march in Washington. Anyone know what “or else” means in this instance?
The members are so ignorant of Islamic doctrine that they have no idea that Muslims(including the NOI) declare that Jesus is not the Messiah and that Islamic doctrine says, **”..They do blaspheme who say: “God is Christ the son of Mary . . .” They do blaspheme who say: God is one of three in a Trinity..”**
The fox was in the henhouse and the hens were happily clucking and cheering. All this Islamophilia is like watching the Tonight Show “Jaywalking” segment on steroids.
Firebug says
“they have no idea that Muslims(including the NOI) declare that Jesus is not the Messiah”
—————————————————————————————————————————
..also, that he’s a very naughty boy.
Angemon says
Does not compute.
Ginger says
It does if you take into account that large numbers of people calling themselves Catholic don’t practice their faith.
Steph says
I can’t for the life of me understand why the Church would want their stunning buildings desercrated in this way.
The awe of Holy celebration & gentle performance badly replaced by head down ass up …
Porky The Crusader says
Better someone burn down this church and quick.
gerard says
Matthew 24
[15] “So when you see the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place
[16] then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains;
gerard says
Notice the victory grin on the face of the muslim in the photo.
This is a disgrace! Churches should not be sold IMO. Or if they must be sold then strict terms should be set eg they should not be used as a Mosque!
One day a house of worship for God. Next day..worship of the Antichrist!
Do these people imagine that God takes no notice?
Do they not know that there is a Judgement?
gerard says
DIES irae, dies illa,
solvet saeculum in favilla,
THAT day of wrath, that dreadful day,
shall heaven and earth in ashes lay,
Quantus tremor est futurus,
quando iudex est venturus,
cuncta stricte discussurus!
What horror must invade the mind
when the approaching Judge shall find
and sift the deeds of all mankind!
abad says
Muslim Jesus is right.
The Jesus in the Quran and Hadith is NOT the same Jesus in the Bible. Revelation 22:18.
boakai ngombu says
abad, … musn’t forget Revelation 22:19. what you spew about the Muslim Jesus is blasphemous for it does diminish righteous revelation meant for all, when the entire warning is read.
this reference (vv18,19) suggests that the Allah god of islam (unknowable; the best of all deceivers) is defeated and totally wrong. thus the Koran and the Sunna are misleading many and the SHARIA is the means whereby everlasting punishment for false worship will be the result.
by enslavement to Muhammad (lately contrived; full of lusts) you will be one lost. however, should you turn toward the knowledge concerning the Cross of Christ, you will find forgiveness and peace with the Living God.
gravenimage says
Isa (the Muslim Jesus) will return and “fight the people for the cause of Islam. He will break the cross, kill the swine and abolish jizya” and establish the rule of Allah throughout the world (Hadith from Sunan Abu Dawud, Book of Battles, 37:4310).
………………………………..
What “breaking the crosses and killing the pigs” means is abolishing dhimmitude–that small, threatened space under Islam where Christians, if the pay the crushing Jizya and live like virtual slaves–are allowed under Shari’ah to practice their faith.
What happens next is the true horror: Christians must denounce Christ (who is *very* different from “Isa”, the Muslim “Jesus”) and convert to Islam.
If they do not, “Isa” murders them.
*This* is the meaning of the breaking of the crosses, which supremacist Muslims have carried out in Syracuse.
Muslims have done this many times before–seizing Christian churches, desecrating them, and turning them into Mosques.
The most infamous of all, of course, was Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, Christendom’s greatest church for almost a thousand years when overtaken by the Muslim hordes in 1453. Christians–mostly women and children, the elderly, and clergy–had gathered in the church to pray.
The Mohammedan invaders butchered most of them, taking away the women and children as slaves–after raping them.
And this is not some relic from the distant past–churches have been seized, desecrated, and turned into Mosques in many parts of the Muslim world, including the Islamic State.
This is the legacy we find at the former Trinity Church in Syracuse. The only saving grace is that it was less bloody–*this time*.
Shmooviyet says
Imagine the thoughts behind that s… -eating grin in the accompanying photo.
gravenimage says
Here’s more on the takeover:
“Plans to turn a church into a mosque bring pain and hope to changing neighborhood”
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2014/04/muslim_group_can_remove_crosses_from_church_to_make_it_a_mosque.html
Read between the lines–Muslims have driven Christians out of this neighborhood, and now they are taking over and desecrating the church.
The most perverse thing of all? They are calling this abomination “The Mosque of Jesus, Son of Mary”–really, “Masjid Isa Ibn Maryam”.
This isn’t a “bridge” between old and new, as some clueless Infidels believe, but a sneering form of Muslim supremacism.
Here’s more on Imam Yusuf Soule, from his Twitter feed:
You can see that he is a supporter of the Jihad against Israel, implies that US drone attacks are responsible for the rise of ISIL, suggests that the NYT “set up” the Jihadists in Mississippi, and describes the Jihad massacre of British holliday-goers on a beach in Tunisia as “riveting”:
https://twitter.com/truth_seeker42
Lots more nastiness here.
Shmooviyet says
TY for adding this important info about the imam– no truth about real intentions included in the ‘dhimmi-cratically’ presented story.
The grinning face says much about his dark heart. That cannot be painted over with a smile the way they covered the crosses.
gravenimage says
Thanks, Shmooviyet.
Alboocat says
Filth. Unspeakable. They should have leveled the place. The pope should just shut up. He is part of the problem.
Sam Hawkins says
$300,000 is small change! And the purchase price was only a fraction of that.
So the diocese gave away a building that is in good repair for next to nothing, when they could easily have scored a seven-figure sum by selling to a developer who would turn it into condominiums?
They must be rolling in money if they can afford to be so generous.
Myxlplik says
This was a huge mistake, the Church needs to buy that property back and restore it. It’s not really fair that it was done in such secrecy. I can’t believe folks in the Parish let this happen.
voegelinian says
On June 29, Paul Waelder rode a crane to the top of the church. Along with workers from Giarrosso Sheet Metal, Waelder spent two days 200 feet in the air, working first with concrete saws to remove the crosses. Then his son, David Waelder, an artist and metal worker, hammered the domes and crescents into place.
Giarrosso Sheet Metal
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gravenimage says
I’ll be giving them a call. I doubt they realize how they have enabled evil.
Annabelleebeidersee says
I hope at some point in time people will understand that Islam isn’t religion. It’s an extremely dangerous socio – political entity pretending to be a religion. Would you call Nazism a religion? Couldn’t they have left the crosses and maybe have converted it into something useful for humanity ( which a mosque isn’t ). But now people will think the religion of peace and tolerance is just being helpful, I mean just think of all the work they are saving Muslim – Isa when he returns, he’ll have so many fewer crosses to take down. He might have a little trouble with those pigs though.
seth morgan says
To all……………..The anti-christ OR better said instead of christ is coming to this earth…Satan,,,,IS the ant–christ and coming to this earth will be saying…..”I am Jesus Christ” …..NOT SO !!
This lying pig is a supernatural enitity, a man but not flesh and blood man,but with supernatural powers and coming with transportation to this earth……
Satan, the fallen angels ARE coming to this earth…..
Christians most will believe the lie and the muslims will acknowledge him….
ALL religions will believe he is the one they have been waiting him…..
duh_swami says
Seth..Do you also believe in Gabriel visited Mahound many times and dictated to him the Quran?
seth morgan says
NO………..Gabriel is a archangel from the Most High GOD ! Quran is evil satanic lie…..There is one God AND of His Son are Lord Jesus Christ… Emanuel..” God with Us” …
Christ…..”the true Christ” will not return till the last trump…7th trump,7th vial , and 7th seal….When Christ returns and His feet touch the earth ALL are changed into are spirtual bodies….instance…..No more flesh bodies……..
When the false christ comes IF your still in a flesh body, God help you..Satan comes in the sixth seal, sixth vial and sixth trump…666……
Peggy says
Nothing new and only the beginning in the US.
Cecilia Ellis says
According to a 2014 New York Daily news article, the North Side Learning Center bought Holy Trinity Catholic Church, plus the adjacent rectory and school, for about $150,000 in December 2013. That means that an additional $150,000 must have been spent for essential building modifications . . . like taking down all six, 100-600-pound, concrete crosses; removing any stained-glass windows that dare to show Jesus’ crucifixion or resurrection or symbols of the Trinity; and painting over those pesky inscriptions such as, “The Father and I are One” (John 10:30) or “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/islamic-group-strip-catholic-church-crosses-article-1.1744922
What a shame to see such destruction, but that was inevitable in the selling of such an awesomely beautiful structure – for such an outrageously incomprehensible amount of money – to the North Side Learning Center (NLSC). A quick look at the NLSC website reveals that it is a non-profit organization whose members, primarily Muslim, include: Turkish Cultural Center, Islamic Center of Central NY, Al-Huda MAS Mosque, Islamic Circle of NA, and Islamic Relief USA. The intent, all along, was to rent the building out as a mosque.
http://northsidelearning.org/
In the end, it mattered not that generations had contributed hard-earned money to purchase land and materials, to pay for construction, to support and to maintain parish and school operations. That the church had closed in 2010 – due to non-attendance and a waning number of parishioners — is relevant, but not in a financial sense. That community has experienced a significant demographic change. The following excerpt from a Syracuse news article is germane:
“Yusuf Soule, executive director of the North Side Learning Center, estimated there are about 5,000 Muslims who would be served by the mosque.
The population of Muslims in Onondaga County more than doubled in the last decade. Between 2000 and 2010, the number of worshiping Muslims in the county rose from 3,109 to 6,566. The county’s total population is more than 450,000.
A walk through the North Side shows the change: Many of the women on the sidewalks and in the parks wear traditional Islamic head coverings.
A meeting last month about the proposed mosque brought out men from 15 different countries who said they needed a place to worship.
One was Acho Urufla, who came to the U.S. from Ethiopia in 2004.
“We don’t have any place to pray,” he said. “We need help.”
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2014/04/muslim_group_can_remove_crosses_from_church_to_make_it_a_mosque.html
When Muslims need a place to pray, nothing else matters. In the town in which I live, there are numerous empty buildings. Yet, when a Christian church was placed on the market, in order for that congregation to move to a larger facility, Muslims rushed to purchase that particular building. I have noticed that all stained-glass has been removed and replaced with bricks or the glass has been painted black. Perhaps the price was right, but whatever the case, the transformation was immediate. No vestige of pre-ownership by Christians was left, to include the Cross, which was removed first. There’s a message there: To Muslims, the Cross is blasphemy, as is calling Jesus, “the Son of God.” To Muslims, Jesus is only “the son of Mary.” The Muslim Jesus is the exact opposite of the Christian Jesus, and those Christians who fail to understand that polarity would do well to read the words of those who do:
“Say not “Trinity”: desist: It will be better for you: For God is One God: Glory be to Him: (Far Exalted is He) above having a son. . . . (Sura 4:173)”
“They do blaspheme who say: “God is Christ the son of Mary . . .” They do blaspheme who say: God is one of three in a Trinity: for there is no god except One God. If they desist not from their word (of blasphemy), verily a grievous penalty will befall the blasphemers among them (Sura 5:75,78)”
Ginger says
There’s no irony in the RC bishops abetting the destruction of a church. The Catholic Church, once the scourge of Islam, is now its biggest appeaser. There will be more church ‘conversions’ like this.
Baucent says
And the funds to purchase and deconstruct that church came from 10,000 cakes sales and passing the plate around I suppose? I think not, more likely from Saudi or Qatari coffers.All part of the propaganda war to show Islam is victorious over Christianity. Those Bishops that approved the sale need a kick up the cassock.
This practice of buying disused churches to convert into mosques has been going on in Europe for a decade of more. The argument the muslims float is always “it’s better the building is used to worship God”. But could you imagine the violent eruption worldwide if one mosque was converted into a church?
Better a wrecking ball than let the muslims take them.
duh_swami says
A cross painted over is a cross still there. A place used over and over for devotion, adoration and prayer
become Holy…A series of purification rituals tend to purify, or drives out negative energy.
The magicians magical circle is a type of purity container constructed by the magician to protect himself from the demonic forces outside…Islam has no such magical circle, which is why they like to convert churches or build a mosque on a former church site. But soon the latent purity barrier breaks down
and negativity invades. making the site ‘holy’, rather than ‘Holy’…
In the individual, it is the so called aura that acts as a barrier if you frill it with powerful energy like love. When you generate love to the source of your love, you get back more than you sent. That’s how ‘love builds up’, and your cup will ‘runnrth over’, into your field of activity…Negative energy has a hard time penetrating that shield…The big secret is that you don’t need religion to do it…You can be your own savior…But of course the priests and Imams don’t want you to know that…
Angel says
duh-swami, Nobody can save himself/herself. We are saved by grace, by God’s grace, not by our works although evidence of saving grace is evidenced through faith, hope, and charity beyond our natural capacity. This is the authentic teaching of Catholic, Orthodox, AND Protestant churches. The self-salvation aimed for through Buddhism and Hinduism is a different kind of spiritual liberation (more psychological than eschatological) inasmuch as it can be achieved BUT has no direct relevance for life after (physical) death understood as everlasting loving union with the One, Triune God. Any New Age version of salvation/liberation is less than either, being a cheap counterfeit (of valid Eastern religions) and always vulnerable to demonically-assisted self-deception.
Shane says
A victory for Islam and their liberal allies.
TH says
Canon Law has rules about what former Catholic churches can be dedicated to. These include activities which are conntrary to Catholic morality. I would assume that a proper reading of the canon should exclude mosques, as a false moon god is beng worshipped in them.
Dr. Divinity says
Muslim’s try to build mosque’s near or actually on the sight of former churches or in this case take over the building.It’s a Muslim thing.It’s what they do.
Fr. Basil says
I would have seen arson first. And it would not have been illegal or immoral, because holy things that can no longer be used for their original purpose should be burned.
The Last English Prince says
This behavior is based on Hadith: When Isa returns he will slay Dajjal, break the cross and kill the pig. Quite a bit of text is available which is both anti-Semitic and anti-Christian within the volumes of writing from the early Islamic Empire. The same is available in modern writings but much of it moved underground and off the mosque bookshelves after 9/11. I am fortunate, to have salvaged a few items prior to their disappearance..
Churches are desirable, and targeted acquisitions for conversion to mosques.
TOM says
i HAVE MANY RELATIVES WHO ATTENDED HOLY TRINITY SINCE THE EARLY 1900’S. IT WAS TRULY ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CHURCHES IN THE SYRACUSE AREA! IT WAS A THRIVING PARISH OF MOSTLY GERMAN AND ITALIAN FAMILIES FOR DECADES. THIS WHOLE DEBACLE IS A RESULT OF THE ‘NEW SPRINGTIME’ WHICH WAS TO BE BROUGHT ABOUT BY THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL IN THE 1960’S. HOWEVER IN THE 50 YEARS SINCE THE VCII, IT HAS WROUGHT NOTHING BUT CONFUSION, ERROR, INDIFFERENCE AND APOSTASY. NOW MUSLIM HERETICS OWN IT. WHAT A TRAVESTY!!!
Symeon Bushunow says
While I agree that this is a terrible thing, exactly how is this a violation of the First Ammendment?
Colleen says
even the Catholic Bishops ( Church ) is selling us down the river. Screw them. Money, money, money. The church is still all about money.
Carlos Danger says
Maybe someone can ask Pope Francis for his blessing on this sort of thing when he’s in the States. Invite him for an errr…..inter-faith service.
Linda Rivera says
I was close to tears reading this and kept shouting “NO! NO! NO!” Churches should NEVER be converted into mosques.
This should only happen in a country that has been CONQUERED by Muslims where Christians have been massively slaughtered by Muslims.
How can it be possible for this terrible blasphemy against God to be perpetrated in a Christian country? And God forbid, U.S. taxpayers paid for this HUGE INSULT to Almighty God.
Never in the history of America, Britain and Europe have we needed God as we need Him now. Yet God is treated with profound disrespect when He should be greatly Glorified and Honored.
How can a nation shake their fist at God, the God who we desperately need, by converting a church into a mosque?
Art says
This action was NOT the fault of Muslims, or even of Islan in general! It was the fault of Rome (I.e. the Roman Catholic Church), for selling the church to a Myslim group that would turn it into a mosque! But, once they did, the actions of that Muslim group was completely appropriate, and must NOT be compared with any form of terrorism! It was the CHURCH that was in error! This would not have happened if the church had been an Orthodox Church!
gravenimage says
Art, taking over churches and other non-Muslim places of worship is a stated Islamic goal, and has been from the earliest days of Islam.
And it is not just the Catholics who have sold underused or abandoned churches to Muslims–many Protestant churches have been converted as well, including Anglican churches.
And in many places, of course, Muslims are not buying churches for conversion into mosques–they are just seizing them. We see this all the time in the Islamic State.
RG says
Koran 2.22: “…do not attribute to Allah equals [EQUALS EQUALS EQUALS] while you know that there is nothing [NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING] similar to Him.”
AND NOW FOR THE VERY NEXT VERSE WRITTEN BY MO-HAMMER-HEAD himself….
Koran 2.23: “And if you are in doubt about what We [WE WE WE] have sent down upon Our [OUR OUR OUR] Servant [Muhammad]….
Hey, it ain’t mohammerhead sayin’ “We”, “Our”, cause the ‘allah-god-thingy-personage’ IS TALKIN’ DIRECTLY ABOUT MOHAMMERHEAD in this reference!!!!!
AHEMMM!!!!! “WE, OUR….” So who in the HELL is the second, third, umpteenth PERSON that is referenced here?????
If this ‘allah-god-thingy-personage’ does not have any EQUALS…. AHEMMM…. THEN WHO IN THE HELL IS THE KORAN TALKING ABOUT WHEN IT REFERENCES HIM AS “We” “Our” “Us”….??????? AHEMMM!!!!!
Small matter? Insignificant? Yeah, really?…I THINK NOT!!!!!
THIS IS A BLATANT STUPENDOUS DUMBASS ERROR MADE BY MO-HAMMER-HEAD HIMSELF!!!!!
YA CAN’T HAVE “ONE” “ONE” “ONE” ALLAH-god WITH “NO EQUALS” IF HE REFERS TO HIMSELF AS “We”, “Us”, “Our”, etc, etc, etc….
Check it out for yourself, the freakin’ FREAKIN’ FREAKIN’ koran is loaded, LOADED, LOADED AD INFINITUM, with references to the allah-god-thingy-personage referring to himself in the PLURAL, PLURAL, PLURAL form….
I KID YOU NOT!!!!! It’s all right on line at koran.com…. I KID YOU NOT!!!!!
EYESOPEN says
All I can say about the “we” and “our” nonsense is that many an exorcist comes across the same thing dealing with the demonically possessed – when they are finally able to force the demonic out from behind the human that is possessed – also used interchangeably with “I” or “my”. I don’t find it odd at all.
Angel says
In fairness to the USCCB and the Catholic bishops of the U.S.A. in general, in most such matters deference to the local bishop is expected and the USCCB is limited to providing guidelines for the “if” an “when”. Do not think for one moment that all of the bishops liked this bad, naive decision by the Diocese of Syracuse one bit. Bishops normally express their disagreements with one another behind closed doors. Obviously, one important fool’s mind could not be changed.
Mike Clark says
I was just devastated reading about this Catholic Church , being sold and converted into a Mosque , plus approved by the Conference of Catholic Bishops , this is an utter sacrilege. How could the former Parishoneers of this Church , allow this to have happened , what are the people in Syracuse a bunch of wimps , this is downright disgusting that the city would allow this to happen. After reading this , I went out and bought another 5000 rounds of ammunition , some grenades and land mines and some rocket launchers . I am and my group is getting ready to be prepared for outright War against ISIS , here in the United States , along with fighting against this Corrupt Obama Administration . Get prepared America , you can’t trust anyone in Government anymore they are all liars and be prepared , as they will be knocking on your door taking all your food , guns and ammo and will use force to do it. Wake up Folks , when the Catholic Church is allowing this to occur in the U.S. , all is lost. I will definitely contact my Parrish Priest this Sunday , to find out what is going on , I would rather have the Catholic Church destroy the building then to allow Muslims to covert this place of worship into a Mosque. I am devastated after reading this article , then we have the pope coming to the US , sure would like to ask him why the Conference of Catholic Bishops approved this sin , that’s what I consider this an entire Mortal Sin as far as I’m Concerned .
P.McCoy says
These descrations happened in Ortho dox Kosovo to the Serbs and occupied Northern Cyprus to the Greeks and it is still going on.However, the Catholics and Protestants turned a blind eye and deaf ear both in Western Europe AND the United States for centuries, even up to today. The other tragedy is the ongoing need to pay for damages caused by sex child predator Catholic priests and not just from “dead” 50 year old cases. The dioceses are being bankrupted and churches are being sold to the highest bidder to pay for these crimes against humanity, which conspiracy theorists have wrongfully laid at the feet of some so called “Cold War Communist ‘homosexual’ spy cabal,” instead of the perversities that are rampant and preclude Communism in the RCC.
Robinoz says
History is full of countries that the pernicous Islam has invaded and taken over or caused to be divided into two or more (think Sudan, Indonesia).
The USA will be taken over by Islam too because it has a moslem president and thousands of dhimmis that don’t seem to want to do anything to prevent it. Our cowardice is what helps Islam win.
Mike Clark says
How are We The People allowing this to continue to happen, are we that damm ignorant and apathetic , that we really don’t care what goes on in this country. I have lost thousands of my brothers in Vietnam, my Grandson who joined the Marine Corps like me , is now in harms way overseas fighting for what ???????????? So this Corrupt Obama Administration continues to run our country into the ground and no one except for one person who is running for office is condemning . This establishment of people in Washington , especially Federal Employees , HeadS of departments and agencies continually , tell our reps , that they can’t even discipline these employees , who have lied and cheated and stold taxpayers money , because the Unions wont allow it , come on Folks , if you Love you Kids and Grand kids , get off your ass and throw these people out in Washington , the majority need to be locked up .
Blitz2b says
Mosques have to be constructed with an orientation towards the east for their idol worship bowing towards Mecca. How then does it work Muslims converting churches to mosques when construction of churches require no such orientation.
Do Muslims only acquire discontinued churches that are already orientated towards Mecca? Or do they somehow reorient them internally?
Ask churches should be constructed with a deliberate orientation away from Mecca to avoid Muslims eyeing it for their future Allah worshipping.
Historically have there ever been any mosques converted to churches?
Angel says
Traditionally, Catholic churches are built with the people facing the east. This is to symbolize joyful anticipation as Christians await the promised Second Coming of Jesus Christ on Mt. Olivet in Jerusalem. Some modern churches ignore this, but it is nonetheless the tradition.
In Spain, a number of mosques were converted to churches after the Reconquista–i.e., when native Spaniards kicked the Muslims invaders out of their homeland. One example would be the famous cathedral of Cordoba.
Angemon says
Angel posted:
“In Spain, a number of mosques were converted to churches after the Reconquista–i.e., when native Spaniards kicked the Muslims invaders out of their homeland. One example would be the famous cathedral of Cordoba.”
The cathedral of Cordoba was originally a Christian church which was re-purposed as a mosque to celebrate the islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula – it’s no accident that the driving force behind the Ground Zero mosque is the so-called “Cordoba Initiative”.
Andrew Barbieri says
It would have been so much better for everyone, if the catholic church no longer wanted to keep Holy Trinity Church, that they razed the property, and put a chain link fence around the property.
I can’t believe the Catholic is in such dire financial straights that they had to sell their Church to their enemy.
gravenimage says
I have a small amount of *good* news–it seems that St. Nicolas Church, which was destroyed on 9/11, will finally be rebuilt, and with a Byzantine design:
“Church Near Trade Center to Echo Landmarks of East”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/31/nyregion/st-nicholas-church-destroyed-on-9-11-to-rebuild-with-byzantine-design.html
Kudos to the church for persevering all these years to get St. Nicolas rebuilt.
Unfortunately, though, the reverend has learned little about Islam from the destruction of his church; he foolishly supported the Ground Zero Mosque project.
Still, good news is good news.
Here’s the groundbreaking:
http://www.religionnews.com/2014/10/20/greek-orthodox-leaders-launch-rebuilding-of-destroyed-st-nicholas-only-church-destroyed-sept-11/
R Smith says
This vile evil is so offensive to all, even to them. I’m glad this disease hasn’t infected my mind and put me into the mental spin they suffer, and which has affectively made them the real Zombie Apocalypse, pity them.
M Howell says
It’s sickness that the Church is doing this to itself. It’s not the building or the crosses, it’s the people. Where were they? Why didn’t they act like Christians? That place should have been full, open 24 hours a day, ministering to the community.