July 29, 2026

A New Mexico archbishop is igniting backlash after declaring Muslims have a “God-given” right to build a mosque in Albuquerque and urging Catholics to back it, calling defense of the project a “core element of Catholic teaching.” Archbishop John Wester’s statement, released amid faithful concerns over the North Valley mosque-and-community-center proposal, has sharpened tensions inside the archdiocese as critics point to his long record of pro-LGBT positions and accuse him of going beyond doctrine in the name of religious liberty.

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