Muslim community members in the city of Monfalcone were permitted to hold their holiday prayers in a church, but the worshippers chose to cover one of the statues at the prayer site with a cloth.
A religious uproar erupted in Italy after a statue of Jesus was covered with a cloth during Eid al-Adha prayers held by local Muslims in a church in Monfalcone. Approximately 4,000 worshippers gathered for the prayer service at the Church of Marcelliana, which had been offered to the Muslim community for the holiday. The act of covering the statue sparked harsh criticism from former Monfalcone mayor and current European Parliament member for the right-wing League party, Anna Maria Cisint.
Don Flavio, the priest in charge of the church, said he would review the image documenting the event, but noted, as quoted in Il Giornale, "Clearly, no one should have done something like that."
Cisint emphasized, "No Islamic edict requires the symbols of other religions to be concealed in order to pray." She described the act of covering the statue as "ostentatious, brutal and provocative," adding that it amounted to a "deep insult to devout Christians."
"The West, meanwhile, extends a hand to its executioner in a gesture of peace that is, first of all, useless and, second, ridiculous - or rather, tragic," she continued, as cited in Il Tempo. She warned that "relations between peoples and religions must be managed with extreme caution, without granting concessions."
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