Muslim chaplain opens US House session
A Muslim chaplain on Wednesday delivered the opening prayer for the
US House of Representatives, an honor few Muslim clergy get, a day
before a congressional panel discussed a bill on the alleged 1915
genocide of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey, The Voice of America
reported.
Abdullah Antepli, who has served at a Duke University mosque in the state of North Carolina since 2008, was invited by Representative David Price, a North Carolina Democrat. He prayed for God to guide members of Congress and enable them to serve citizens of the country and all humanity, regardless of gender, ethnicity or religion.
Antepli, who is the fourth Muslim so far to have opened a session of the US legislature’s lower chamber, told VoA that he was proud, pledging to continue working to assert Muslims’ much-derserved place in the American society.
Duke University says Antepli, who was born in Turkey, is only one of a few full-time Muslim chaplains at US colleges and universities. It says his work focuses on religious leadership for Duke's Muslim community, pastoral care and counseling for people of any faith or belief, and intra- and interfaith work.
The Congress hearings have been opened annually with prayers from a cleric since 1789. The cleric selected by US lawmakers serves as a guest chaplain at the House of Representatives that year.
In 2007, a vote on the alleged genocide of Armenians at the House Committee on Foreign Affairs was opened with an address by Patrick II Garegin, the world Armenians’ clerical leader. A Muslim had not opened a congressional session since 2003.*
Abdullah Antepli, who has served at a Duke University mosque in the state of North Carolina since 2008, was invited by Representative David Price, a North Carolina Democrat. He prayed for God to guide members of Congress and enable them to serve citizens of the country and all humanity, regardless of gender, ethnicity or religion.
Antepli, who is the fourth Muslim so far to have opened a session of the US legislature’s lower chamber, told VoA that he was proud, pledging to continue working to assert Muslims’ much-derserved place in the American society.
Duke University says Antepli, who was born in Turkey, is only one of a few full-time Muslim chaplains at US colleges and universities. It says his work focuses on religious leadership for Duke's Muslim community, pastoral care and counseling for people of any faith or belief, and intra- and interfaith work.
The Congress hearings have been opened annually with prayers from a cleric since 1789. The cleric selected by US lawmakers serves as a guest chaplain at the House of Representatives that year.
In 2007, a vote on the alleged genocide of Armenians at the House Committee on Foreign Affairs was opened with an address by Patrick II Garegin, the world Armenians’ clerical leader. A Muslim had not opened a congressional session since 2003.*
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