A Muslim prayer room has been established inside the Vatican City’s 500-year-old Apostolic Library, following requests from visiting Islamic scholars for “a room with a carpet to pray on.”
Founded in the 15th century, the Vatican Apostolic Library is regarded as the intellectual hub of the Catholic Church. It houses about 80,000 manuscripts, 50,000 archival materials, and nearly two million books.
According to the library’s Vice Prefect, Giacomo Cardinali, who spoke to La Repubblica, “Muslim scholars asked us for a room with a carpet to pray on, and we gave it to them. We have extraordinary ancient Qurans. We are a universal library, with Arabic, Jewish, and Ethiopian collections, as well as unique Chinese works. Years ago, we discovered we had the oldest medieval Japanese archive outside Japan.”
Beyond its vast literary holdings, the library also preserves hundreds of thousands of coins, medals, engravings, and prints.
The Vatican’s gesture of openness stands in stark contrast to the strict interfaith policies of Islam’s holiest city, Mecca, in Saudi Arabia. Each year, Mecca welcomes about nine million Muslim pilgrims—but strictly prohibits entry to non-Muslims. Under Saudi law, anyone of another or no faith found within the city faces heavy fines, imprisonment, or deportation.
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