As the Islamic persecution of Christians in general and Catholics in particular intensifies around the world,1 the Archbishop of Santa Fe, Most Reverend John C. Wester, comes out in defense of a controversial Islamic project.
Local journalist Jason McNabb writes:
“A proposed Islamic mosque and school in Albuquerque’s North Valley has sparked controversy, with neighbors raising concerns about traffic and the building’s size, while others express their personal beliefs and opinions about Muslims.”2
After this reaction, Archbishop Wester issued a Statement Supporting Our Muslim Neighbors’ Right to Worship. Among other things, he affirms:
“[O]ur Muslim neighbors have the same God-given and constitutionally protected right to worship freely as every other faith community, including our own God-given and constitutionally protected right to worship freely as every other faith community, including our own. Defending that right is not only a civic duty but a core element of Catholic teaching.”3
Further on:
“Our Muslim brothers and sisters have faced discrimination and hostility in many parts of the country. When such prejudice arises, Catholics are called to stand beside them, not apart from them. Supporting their right to build a mosque is one concrete way to affirm their dignity and to reject the forces that seek to marginalize them.”
Strangely, the communiqué makes no reference to the persecution of Christians in Islamic countries or in countries like Nigeria, where Muslim terrorists kidnap and kill Catholics, including clergy.4
No Call for Conversion
The statement of the Archbishop of Santa Fe fails to call for the conversion of Muslims or to ask Catholics to remain true to the Faith and do apostolate with the followers of Mohammed.
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On the contrary, the Archbishop urges Catholics to support the construction of the Mosque and the Islamic center in the name of “human dignity.”
Are All Religions Equal?
The Archbishop states: “[O]ur Muslim neighbors have the same God-given right to worship freely” like all religions. If God gave all religions the right to worship freely, regardless of their doctrines and practices, it is tantamount to saying, as did Pope Francis, that all religions are equally willed by God and that He willed “pluralism and the diversity of religions, color, sex, race and language.5
How can one think God doesn’t care if Islam and Judaism deny the Holy Trinity, that Protestantism and the Eastern schismatics deny the authority of the Papacy, that Buddhism does not have the concept of a personal God? That would be absurd. God cannot will something that contradicts His wisdom, the eternal and unchanging truth that He has revealed. God cannot contradict himself. A contradictory God would not be God and therefore could not exist.
Error Is No Basis for Law
The Archbishop insists: “In Dignitatis Humanae, the Second Vatican Council taught that every person ‘must be free from coercion.’ in matters of faith.” Not to be coerced in matters of religion is only a negative right. It is not equivalent to the positive right to preach or publicly profess a religion.
A Muslim’s Remarkable Conversion to Catholicism
In his 1953 “Ci Riesce” speech, Pope Pius XII made it clear that error is not a source of law:
“Above all, it must be clearly stated that no human authority, no state, no community of states, whatever be their religious character, can give a positive command or positive authorization to teach or to do that which would be contrary to religious truth or moral good. Such a command or such an authorization would have no obligatory power and would remain without effect. No authority may give such a command, because it is contrary to nature to oblige the spirit and the will of man to error and evil, or to consider one or the other as indifferent. Not even God could give such a positive command or positive authorization, because it would be in contradiction to His absolute truth and sanctity.”6
Sympathy for Islam and the Homosexual Movement
It is symptomatic that this same Archbishop, who is sympathetic to Islam, also sympathizes with the homosexual and transgender movement. On June 2, 2026, Archbishop Wester wrote an article in the Jesuit magazine, America, about a meeting he participated in, organized by New Ways Ministry, a pro-homosexual dissident “Catholic” organization.
He narrates:
“I recently attended a meeting in Racine, Wis., organized by New Ways Ministry…. At this meeting, bishops encountered and dialogued with theologians, pastoral workers and L.G.B.T.Q. persons. This time together deepened my pastoral concern, understanding and right judgment about the lives of L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics.”7
He cites Report of Study Group #9 from the Synod on Synodality, which presents a theological and philosophical justification for homosexual practice according to the tenets of the Modernist heresy.
Our Lord’s Commandment to the Apostles and their Successors
Our Lord Jesus Christ did not command the Apostles and their successors to preach brotherhood among all religions, but rather:
Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. (Matt 28:19-20)
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Footnotes
- Cf. H.Res.594-Condemning the persecution of Christians in Muslim-majority countries. 119th Congress (2025-2026). House of Representatives Jul. 17, 2025. https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-resolution/594/text
- “North Valley mosque proposal faces community opposition,” by Jason McNabb. In KOAT Albuquerque. https://www.koat.com/article/north-valley-mosque-proposal-faces-community-opposition/71540504
- Statement Supporting Our Muslim Neighbors’ Right to Worship. (all quotations of the statement from this source)https://archdiosf.org/documents/2026/7/260727_STATEMENT_SupportingMuslimNeighbors.pdf
- Victoria Cardiel, Christian persecution in Nigeria: 1,200 churches destroyed annually, hundreds killed, Christian persecution in Nigeria: 1,200 churches destroyed annually, hundreds killed. https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/africa/christian-persecution-in-nigeria-1200-churches-destroyed-annually-hundreds-killed
- Apostolic Journey of His Holiness Pope Francis to the United Arab Emirates, A Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together, https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/travels/2019/outside/documents/papa-francesco_20190204_documento-fratellanza-umana.html.
- Pius XII, “Ci Riesce,” https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/ci-riesce-8948
- “Archbishop Wester: The church must draw closer to L.G.B.T.Q. people,” by John C. Wester, Jun. 2, 2026. America Magazine. https://www.americamagazine.org/faith-and-reason/2026/06/02/archbishop-wester-lgbtq-catholic-church/