Ahmed Benzizine, a Muslim worker who spent nearly four decades helping to restore the Saint Jean cathedral, stands next to the gargoyle portraying him in Lyon, France. [Photo/Agencies]

PARIS - A Muslim stonemason who spent nearly four decades helping to restore a Roman Catholic cathedral in France has been immortalized as a winged gargoyle peering out from its facade - with the inscription "God is great" written in French and Arabic.

The gesture was to reflect the city of Lyon's links to its large Muslim population. But a widely publicized outcry from a small extreme-right group has forced the Archdiocese of Lyon into damage control.

"This has nothing to do with religion. It's a sculptor who wants to pay homage to a construction site chief and say 'thank you'," said the rector of the cathedral. "There is no religion that doesn't say 'God is great,' (be it) Christian, Jewish, Muslim," he said.

Associated Press