A dedicated prayer room for Muslims has reportedly been opened inside the 500-year-old Vatican Apostolic Library in Rome after a plea for the separate, carpeted space was made by visiting Islamic scholars.
The Catholic Herald reports Fr Giacomo Cardinali, Vice Prefect, said in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that Muslim academics had requested an area in which to pray, and the library had agreed. “Some Muslim scholars have asked us for a room with a carpet for praying and we have given it to them,” he said.
In the interview, Cardinali referred to the library’s modern collections: about 80,000 manuscripts, 50,000 archival items, nearly two million printed books, and hundreds of thousands of coins, medals, engravings, and prints.
A view of the Sistine Hall inside the Vatican Apostolic Library, in Vatican City on June 23, 2025. Home to more than 80,000 manuscripts, over 300,000 coins and medals, around 150,000 visual works, and two million ancient and modern printed books, it is now to have a separate area dedicated solely to Muslims for Islamic worship. (Baris Seckin/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The Vatican Library, founded in the mid-15th century and often regarded as the intellectual heart of the Catholic Church, houses a vast array of manuscripts and texts from across the world’s religions and cultures.
According to the report, Fr Cardinali said its collections include “incredibly old Qurans” alongside Hebrew, Ethiopian, Arabic, and Chinese works. “We are a universal library,” he explained.
The library, located within Vatican City, traces its origins to Pope Nicholas V in 1451 and has since served as one of the world’s leading repositories of Christian and human knowledge.
The opportunity given by the Vatican for Muslims to pray in their own designated area is at odds with Islam’s own strictures for its holy city.
Non-Muslims are not allowed to enter Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Non-Muslims who attempt to enter Mecca can face severe consequences, including imprisonment and deportation.
