Christians Should Call God Allah, Dutch Bishop Says

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A Dutch Catholic bishop who once said the hungry were entitled to steal bread has made headlines by saying God should be called Allah. "Allah is a very beautiful word for God. Shouldn't we all say that from now on, we will call God Allah?" Bishop Tiny Muskens said in a broadcast interview. "God doesn't care what we call him."

Bishop Muskens said he had worked in Indonesia, where God is referred to as Allah in Christian services. But a spokesman for one of the capital's leading mosques said he was not happy with the statement.

"We didn't ask for this," a spokesman for the Moroccan Mosque in Amsterdam told De Telegraaf. "Now, it is as if we have a problem between Muslims and Christians."

Gerrit de Fijter, chairman of the General Synod of the Dutch Protestant Church, also rejected Bishop Muskens's suggestion. "I applaud every attempt to encourage dialogue with Muslims, but I doubt the sense of this maneuver," Mr. de Fijter told De Telegraaf.