Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2014 11:20:58 GMT
Groundbreaking project by pastor, rabbi and imam in German capital will be unlike any other religious venue in the world, its initiators say.
Christians, Muslims and Jews, all praying under the same roof – that's the groundbreaking project of a pastor, a rabbi and an imam in Berlin.
Still a sand-strewn vacant construction site, St Peter's Square in the center of the German capital will – God willing – by 2018 host a building that's so unusual it doesn't have an official term.
Not a church, nor a synagogue, or a mosque as such, but a bit of all three, the center known currently as a "House of Prayer and Learning" will be unlike any other religious venue in the world, its initiators say.
The aim of the €44-million ($60-million) project, whose fundraising kicked off Tuesday but has been several years in the making, is not only to show the importance of multi-faith dialogue but to mirror multi-cultural Berlin.
"It seemed to us that there was a very strong desire for the peaceful coming together of the religions," said Roland Stolte, one of two Protestant representatives on the board of the association behind the project.
Not by coincidence, it will stand at a location with a strong and long religious significance.
In 2007 archaeological excavations unearthed the foundations of four previous St Peter's churches that had stood on the site at different periods since the Middle Ages, Stolte told AFP in an interview.
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4528242,00.html
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