Divisions over the future of St Albert’s RC primary in Pollokshields deepened recently when Muslim parents interrupted the Friday Mass at various intervals to withdraw their children.
Father John Gannon, who led the Mass, described the parents as “extremists”, who in turn retorted that the parish priest was potentially inciting “religious and racial hatred”.
Parents were given the opportunity to meet with leaders of the Catholic Church in Scotland last week, although a spokesman for the Church said, "St Albert's is a Catholic school and therefore it is perfectly normal for a priest to celebrate Mass there regularly.
“Children at the school are taught to respect all faiths and no-one is obliged to assist at religious ceremonies . . . Those who chose to disrupt the children's observance with noisy protest do themselves no favours."
The pupils were withdrawn after allegations were made that the children were forced to participate in Christian services at the school because there were no staff available to supervise them elsewhere.
The allegations were followed by a call from a number of Muslims in the local community for the school to convert its faith in order to better represent its predominantly Muslim population – around 75 per cent.
Glasgow’s largest mosques and Muslim organisations founded the Campaign for Muslim Schools last year in an effort to bring about the establishment of Scotland’s first state-funded Muslim school. St Albert’s is particularly attractive to the campaigners because of its situation in Pollokshields, home to Scotland’s largest Pakistani community.The church has a long history of running schools in Scotland; but the Muslim community does not have the hierarchy or the structures to run schools yet.
Amanullah de Sondy, Centre for Islam at Glasgow University
Spokesman for the Campaign for Muslim Schools, Osama Saeed, said St Albert’s was a particular focus because it is inappropriate for Muslim children to be roped into Christian observances, reports The Guardian.
