What an odd thing to say.
I look at the Wailing Wall and the Temple Mount as religious shrines, though I am neither Jewish nor Muslim. I also look at the structure across the street as a home, even though I don't live there.
What an odd thing to say.
Perhaps I need to explain myself.
I don't personally look at the Vatican as a place intrinsically holy because it is the residence of the Pope and St. Peters or even some "holy" relics. That doesn't mean others don't see the Vatican as that. Some, no doubt, do. However, it is not central to the entire Christian world for it's faith. Destroy it completely (which is unlikely), and Christianity will motor on.
So, I do see the Vatican as a place of great religious significance, but not crucial for either the confirmation or continuance of faith. Others, however, may deem it so. But not me, and probably not most Christians.
For Muslims, however, Mecca is indispensible. It anchors one of the 5 pillars of their faith, the Hajj.
This once-in-a-lifetime practice of their faith, namely the crucial pilgrimage of the Hajj, is the journey required to Mecca where the Kaaba was supposedly built by Abraham. All Muslims must journey the Hajj and perform it to that specific place, Mecca. Without physical Mecca (which contains it's religious significance), Islam is rootless physically and spiritually.
This is probably why many Muslims feel if they can destroy the Vatican they will have beheaded Christianity. They don't separate the physical place from the spiritual significance. Likely, they think the physical destruction of the Vatican would be a spiritual death-blow, much as would the physical destruction of Mecca.
Without the Vatican, Christianity will survive even though culturally impoverished and visually wounded. But, the Vatican is not necessary for Christianity to either exist or survive.
Mecca is much more significant and is at the root in the Muslim faith. It's destruction would not only destroy the Queen Bee, but their belief in the omnipotence of Allah, as he surely would not allow such a centrally important place to be obliterated.
But, the destruction of Mecca would come only at the great cost of a paroxysm of violence throughout the world as the faithful Muslims vent their murderous anger on all things deemed related to that destruction. It would be a bloodletting unparalleled, period. But in the end, that nest of bees would wither and die without either the hive or the Queen. Such destruction is practically unthinkable and should only be a last, final resort to prevent a Muslim victory over the world. It would be far preferable to have Muslims willingly leave their faith than kill them.