Archbishop Wester defends proposed mosque in New Mexico, criticizes ‘anti-Muslim sentiment’
Archbishop John Charles Wester publicly supported the Albuquerque Islamic Center's new mosque after its 5-1 approval by Bernalillo County Planning Commission, citing the right to religious freedom. He referenced the Second Vatican Council's Dignitatis Humanae, emphasizing that religious liberty extends to all faiths, not just Christians. Wester urged respectful dialogue, peaceful coexistence, and criticized anti‑Muslim sentiment, calling for Catholic solidarity against discrimination. The council’s decision allowed the mosque but rejected a proposed school to keep the project smaller and reduce traffic.
2 months ago
Archbishop John Charles Wester of Santa Fe publicly backed a proposed mosque in Albuquerque’s North Valley, invoking Catholic teaching on religious freedom and condemning anti‑Muslim sentiment, while the project received a narrow approval from the Bernalillo County Planning Commission.
The Bernalillo County Planning Commission voted 5‑1 on July 1 to approve the construction of a mosque for the Albuquerque Islamic Center, rejecting a planned school to limit traffic and keep the development modest. 1
On July 27, Wester issued a six‑paragraph statement emphasizing that Muslims, like all faith communities, possess a God‑given, constitutionally protected right to worship. He cited the Second Vatican Council’s declaration Dignitatis Humanae on religious freedom, stressing that “every person must be free from coercion” in matters of faith and that this principle applies universally, not only to Catholics. 1 2
Wester urged “respect, dialogue, and peaceful coexistence,” arguing that fear of the other is not a Christian virtue, while hospitality is. He described anti‑Muslim rhetoric and opposition to places of worship as incompatible with the Gospel’s command to love one’s neighbor without exception. 2
Ibrahim Hooper, national communications director of the Council on American‑Islamic Relations (CAIR), welcomed the archbishop’s support, calling the freedom to worship a fundamental, inalienable right for every American and urging people of conscience to stand together against rising Islamophobia. 1
Wester highlighted that interfaith relationships enrich civic life and strengthen the social fabric, asserting that Catholics are called to stand beside Muslim neighbors rather than apart from them when prejudice arises. His remarks reflect the Catholic Church’s post‑Vatican II commitment to religious liberty and mutual respect among different faith traditions. 2*
Catholic teaching on religious liberty demands defense of Muslim worship
Catholic teaching on religious liberty supports the legal and civic defense of the right of Muslims (and all religious communities) to worship—because religious liberty is fundamentally about immunity from coercion in civil society and protection of the common good/public order, not about endorsing the truth of every religion’s doctrines.
Religious freedom (in Catholic teaching) does not primarily mean “everyone may believe whatever they want,” but that in public life no one is to be forced to act against conscience or belief in religious matters. Vatican II teaches that the right to religious freedom means that all persons are to be immune from coercion “so that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs… whether privately or publicly… within due limits.”
This right has its foundation in the dignity of the human person, known both through reason and through divine revelation.
At the deepest level, the Church also insists that faith itself must be free: “no one therefore is to be forced to embrace the Christian faith against his own will,” because “the act of faith is of its very nature a free act.”
Key sources for this section: Dignitatis Humanae (Vatican II).
Religious liberty in Catholic teaching is not only an inner virtue; it concerns how society should be ordered. Vatican II draws a clear line: “No merely human power can either command or prohibit acts of this kind [religious acts]”—because religious acts “transcend by their very nature the order of terrestrial and temporal affairs.”
But the Church also clarifies that rights are exercised “provided that just public order is observed.”
Vatican II further teaches that the common good requires the protection of the inviolable rights of persons, and that government has a duty to safeguard religious freedom effectively through just laws and other appropriate means.
It also insists on equality and non-discrimination: government must ensure that the equality of citizens before the law is not violated for religious reasons, and it is “a wrong” if government imposes or hinders religious belonging or practice by force, fear, or other means.
Finally, religious freedom is understood with limits: it is exercised with respect for the rights of others and the common welfare, and society may defend itself against abuses “committed on the pretext of freedom of religion.”
Key sources for this section: Dignitatis Humanae; also Pope Francis’ consistent retrieval of Vatican II’s teaching on legal protection and civic recognition of religious freedom.
Yes—because Catholic teaching defends the right to worship for believers of all religions, including Muslims, so long as just public order is observed.
Pope Francis explicitly connects religious freedom to the ability to live both privately and publicly according to one’s ethical principles grounded in found truth, and he calls for legal systems to “recognize, guarantee and protect religious freedom.”
In Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis asks that—especially in minority situations—believers be guaranteed religious freedom for “believers of all religions,” and he highlights religious freedom as the basis for “serene, ordered and peaceful coexistence,” accepting differences and rejoicing that people are brothers and sisters.
Moreover, Catholic teaching does not treat Islam with hostility. Pope Benedict XVI states that the Church “looks with esteem to Muslims,” emphasizing that they worship God and calls for efforts to banish discrimination and to seek juridical and practical recognition of religious freedom so that every citizen can freely choose religion and engage in worship.
Pope Benedict XVI also directly encourages respect and legal freedom of worship in the context of religious restrictions, including by promoting “the construction of places of worship” and respect for rights, asking countries to allow people to freely express faith by promoting religious freedom.
So, if “defense of Muslim worship” means protecting Muslims from coercion and discrimination, and ensuring legal space for worship (mosques, religious practice, religious community life, etc.) under the standards of public order—then Catholic doctrine supports that defense.
Key sources for this section: Dignitatis Humanae (immunity from coercion; public protection); Africae Munus (esteem for Muslims; juridical recognition); Fratelli Tutti and Pope Francis speeches (protection of religious freedom for believers of all religions).
A common misunderstanding is to equate “religious liberty” with relativism or approval of error. Catholic teaching explicitly avoids this.
Vatican II affirms that the Church believes in “the one true religion” and that Christ entrusted the duty of spreading it to the Church.
Crucially, it states that the doctrine of religious freedom “leaves untouched traditional Catholic doctrine on the moral duty of men and societies toward the true religion and toward the one Church of Christ.”
So the Catholic defense of Muslim worship is primarily about civil non-coercion and protection of rights, not about endorsing Islamic teaching as true. Catholic officials may (and often should) work for dialogue and witness, but they should do so without using state power to compel belief.
Catholic teaching on interreligious dialogue also insists on respectful encounter: Christians should “bear witness” joyfully and avoid “false fraternity,” and they are called to overcome fear while respecting convictions of others.
In that same spirit, Pope Francis asks Christians engaged in sustaining dialogue with Islam to be grounded in their own identity and to appreciate the values and concerns underlying others’ demands; and he asks Muslim countries to grant Christians freedom to worship in light of freedom Christians enjoy in Western contexts.
Key sources for this section: Dignitatis Humanae (truth of faith preserved; religious freedom about immunity from coercion); Pope Francis on respectful dialogue and reciprocity.
Catholic teaching includes real boundaries. Religious freedom is not absolute in the sense of ignoring the common good.
Religious communities’ rights are affirmed “provided the just demands of public order are observed.”
Government may also defend society against “possible abuses” committed under the pretext of religious freedom, while remaining non-arbitrary and non-partisan.
Thus, Catholic defense of Muslim worship is consistent with enforcing laws against violence, coercion, or harmful activity—because those are not legitimate exercises of religious freedom.
Key source for this section: Dignitatis Humanae (public order; protections against abuses; just governance).
Catholic teaching supports your claim in the sense that defense of Muslim worship—understood as legal protection of Muslims’ freedom to worship without coercion and without discrimination—is required by the Church’s doctrine of religious liberty.
At the same time, Catholic teaching makes clear that this civic defense does not erase Catholic belief in the truth of Christianity; it safeguards religious freedom as a right grounded in human dignity and constrained only by just public order and protection against abuses.