The board of trustees of a Staten Island Catholic Churchhas rejected the controversial sale of an old conventbuilding to a Muslim group to build a mosque.The sale had sparked two months of angry rallies whenword got out that Father Keith Fennessy of Saint MargaretMary church had quietly agreed to sell the vacant buildingto the Muslim American Society for $750,000.Fennessy later reversed course and said he opposed the sale,which needed to be approved by the parish trustees.The furor came amid a national controversy that has swirledaround efforts to construct a mosque near Ground Zero.
"The trustees of the parish have met, as legally requiredunder New York State law, and voted to ratify the pastor'sdecision," Joe Zwilling, spokesman for the Archdiocese ofNew York said Thursday. "The Muslim American Society hasbeen informed that the sale of the convent will not take place."A message left with a spokeswoman for the groupwas not immediately returned.Residents of Midland Beach, where the property is located,were infuriated by the move, saying they worried whether theorganization had ties with terrorist groups.Muslim community leaders denied the charges as outrageous."It is also our prayer that unity will now return to the parishand to the Midland Beach community," Zwilling said.
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