Italy’s far right blocks Muslims from converting chapel to mosque

Italy’s far-right League party has intervened to block efforts by a Muslim association to turn a former hospital chapel into a mosque. 

Italy’s far-right League party has intervened to block efforts by a Muslim association to turn a former hospital chapel into a mosque. 

The Muslim group last week made the highest offer for the chapel in the northern city of Bergamo at an auction organized by a local hospital, outbidding the Romanian Orthodox Church which had been using the building for its religious services.

But the project proved short-lived, with League leaders in the wealthy Lombardy region, which includes Bergamo, announcing they would halt the sale by using a 2004 law that enables them to intervene and safeguard cultural sites.

League leader Matteo Salvini warned earlier this year that Italian culture and society risked being eradicated by Islam.