Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was one of 34 signatories to a statement yesterday denouncing “categorically the derision, misinformation and outright bigotry being directed against America’s Muslim community.” Catholic Culture has an excerpt:
We are profoundly distressed and deeply saddened by the incidents of violence committed against Muslims in our community, and by the desecration of Islamic houses of worship. We stand by the principle that to attack any religion in the United States is to do violence to the religious freedom of all Americans. The threatened burning of copies of the Holy Qu’ran this Saturday is a particularly egregious offense that demands the strongest possible condemnation by all who value civility in public life and seek to honor the sacred memory of those who lost their lives on September 11. As religious leaders, we are appalled by such disrespect for a sacred text that for centuries has shaped many of the great cultures of our world, and that continues to give spiritual comfort to more than a billion Muslims today.
The plan by Pastor Terry Jones and his 50-person congregation at Dove World Outreach Church in Gainsville, FL, to burn Korans on 9/11 has been denounced by everyone from the Vatican to Hillary Clinton to General Petraeus to Angelina Jolie. I don’t think there’s anyone who thinks it’s a good idea (outside of Jones and his congregation, anyway).
Orthodox. Faithful. Free.
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At the press conference, Cardinal McCarrick added:
“I fear the story of this animosity will be taken to be the story of the real America,” Cardinal McCarrick said. “It’s not. America was not built on hatred, but on love.”
“This is not the real America,” he added. “When you attack one religion, you attack them all.”