Multi-faith building being planned for Berlin

At a church near Berlin’s bustling Alexanderplatz, an evangelical pastor, a rabbi and an imam have conducted interfaith services on special occasions for the past two years. Now they plan to build a multifaith prayer building.

Billed as a landmark Jewish-Muslim-Christian prayer space, the building will combine a church, a synagogue and a mosque under one roof, next to one of Berlin’s busiest streets. Its organizers hope to make the German capital a meeting ground of world cultures and international relationships.

“Berlin is a multi-faceted city,” said Kandir Sanci, the imam of the House of Prayer and Learning, the association behind the project. “You find many people of all kinds of religions. I feel that the city is very engaged to support the various religions and make them feel at home.”

In a few months, the House of Prayer and Learning will launch a crowdsourcing campaign with a goal of raising an estimated 30 million euro, about $40 million.