By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
The Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue released a statement yesterday expressing “great concern” about the proposed burning of the Koran by a Christian minister in Florida on September 11.
“These deplorable acts of violence, in fact, cannot be counteracted by an outrageous and grave gesture against a book considered sacred by a religious community,” said the statement. “Each religion, with its respective sacred books, places of worship and symbols, has the right to respect and protection. We are speaking about the respect to be accorded the dignity of the person who is an adherent of that religion and his/her free choice in religious matters.”
Pastor Terry Jones of the small, evangelical Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville plans to protest acts of Muslim extremism by burning the Koran between six and nine p.m. on Saturday.
The plans have drawn widespread criticism from around the nation with even the White House, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and General David Petraeus weighing in to say such an action will endanger our troops.
Radical Muslim groups are threatening retaliation against the pastor, his church, and anyone who attends the burning.
The Vatican sees a better way of marking the memory of the tragic events of September 11.
“The reflection which necessarily should be fostered on the occasion of the remembrance of 11 September would be, first of all, to offer our deep sentiments of solidarity with those who were struck by these horrendous terrorist attacks. To this feeling of solidarity we join our prayers for them and their loved ones who lost their lives.
“Each religious leader and believer is also called to renew the firm condemnation of all forms of violence, in particular those committed in the name of religion. Pope John Paul II affirmed: ‘Recourse to violence in the name of religious belief is a perversion of the very teachings of the major religions’. His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI similarly expressed, ‘violence as a response to offenses can never be justified, for this type of response is incompatible with the sacred principles of religion’.”
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