On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, Roman Catholic officials have released a number of statements concerning the planner "Koran Burning Day" at a small church in Gainesville, Florida. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and Fr. James Massa, Executive Director of the American Bishops' Conference Secretariat of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs witnessed a statement signed by interfaith leaders meeting in Washington. ""We stand by the principle that to attack any religion in the United States is to do violence to the religious freedom of all American. The threatened burning of copies of the Holy Qu'ran this (coming) 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. Cardinal McCarrick, responding to a reporter's question said: "I fear the story of this animosity will be taken to be the story of the real America. It's not. America was not built upon hatred, but on love.. Further he stated that such animosity is "affecting so many good people who have brought Islam to this country. And from The Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue comes these words: "These deplorable acts of violence [9/11 terrorist attacks] in fact, cannot be counteracted by an outrageous and grave gesture against a book considered sacred by a religious community.... We are speaking about the respect to be accorded the dignity of the person who is an adherent of that religious and his/her free choice in religious matters."
Today we are called to pray for the Florida pastor that his heart will be open tto an awareness of the reality of the consequences that more likely than not will come upon American throughout the world where Islamic terrorists may react to such a desecration.
We, as a nation, are proud of our Constitution. In particular we treasure the power and privilege of the First Amendment. However, prudence is demanded whenever we invoke the privileges of these rights. And, while this is a matter of religion, at least on the surface, the consequences of this planned action, demand of both Church and civic leaders to speak clearly in opposition to this action. Already a number of civic leaders have tried to avoid directly speaking against the planned action, spinning an answer of rights and privileges. We must pray for all our leaders, Church and State, to be firm and direct when there is so clearly a need.
