Your guide for proper etiquette at sacred sites

By lisa schencker

The Salt Lake Tribune

First published Oct 14 2011 12:05PM

Not everyone who visits Temple Square in Salt Lake City is Mormon. Catholics aren’t the only ones who trek to St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. And the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, draws tourists of all faiths.

For most international travelers, visiting religious sites is inevitable. They are hubs of history, repositories of art and often skyline-dominating, cultural behemoths. But they also are often living places of worship that demand a certain level of respect and decorum. Sometimes tourists don’t know all the rules when visiting sites outside of their own faiths. And sometimes they forget to show proper respect in their zeal to sightsee.

Travel expert Rick Steves, who has authored numerous travel guides, said visiting world religious sites is a worthwhile endeavor.

“If we’re all God’s children,” Steves said, “it’s great to get to know the family.”

But he emphasized it’s important for tourists to remember their place.

“If you have a huge church,” Steves said, “that’s been there for 1,000 years, built to facilitate worship, and there’s two people sitting in one pew actually using the church for what it was built to do, their needs should trump everyone else’s needs who come as tourists and sightseers.”

The Salt Lake Tribune asked Steves, a virtual staple on public television, and Stuart M. Matlins, co-editor of the book How to Be a Perfect Stranger: The Essential Religious Etiquette Handbook and publisher at SkyLight Paths Publishing, for their thoughts on visiting religious sites as a tourist.

They both said whether visiting the gargoyle-topped Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, the sacred Western Wall in Jerusalem or the stately Westminster Abbey in London, common rules of respectfulness apply.

via Your guide for proper etiquette at sacred sites | The Salt Lake Tribune.

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