Protests over Fribourg’s new Islamic Centre

Switzerland’s church-linked University of Fribourg has defended plans to open an Islamic Centre at its Theology Faculty and rejected a mass petition against the project, writes Jonathan Luxmoore.

“This centre is destined to help understanding between Christians and Muslims here – extremism develops in states which haven’t integrated religion in their academic courses,” said the university’s rector, Astrid Epiney. The academic was responding to the petition, backed by the centre-right Swiss People’s Party, which gathered 9,000 signatures. Fribourg’s State Council, or local government, said “confrontation of ideas and debate” conformed with the university’s charter.