THE Archbishop of York has visited the city’s mosque and Islamic centre to hear more about its work within the community.

Dr John Sentamu yesterday visited the mosque in Bull Lane to meet with the Imam and members of the mosque as part of ongoing work to foster good community relations.

Speaking before the visit, he said: “In the Old Testament the Prophet Micah challenges his listeners to ‘live justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God’ and so I am very much looking forward to visiting York Mosque today and to find out more of the social action projects that York Mosque is doing. We each have a responsibility to foster better community relations and improve our sense of what it means to be a good neighbour”.

Imam Abid Salik said: “We recently held an Open Day and on behalf of the whole congregation of York Mosque we would like to express deep and sincere gratitude to each and every person who made it possible and to our neighbours and friends from York and beyond who came along to support the day – it was so humbling.

“Islam, like other faiths, places great emphasis on improving understanding between peoples of different backgrounds and traditions. We look forward to welcoming the Archbishop and will be holding more open days soon”.

Visit My Mosque is now in its third year and the annual open day was held in February with over 150 mosques opening their doors for peoples of all faiths and none to discover more about how British mosques are helping local communities.

York Mosque holds regular open days throughout the year. For more information contact@yorkmosque.com.