A Staten Island parish priest has backed away from a plan to sell a Catholic convent to a Muslim group for use as a mosque following sustained community opposition. In a letter sent on Thursday to Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, Fr Keith Fennessy, the pastor of St. Margaret Mary Church, which owns the convent in the Midland Beach neighborhood, said he had given the deal a second look and "concluded that the contemplated sale would not serve the needs of the parish."
Many members of the parish joined other community residents last week in loudly expressing disapproval of the sale at a heated public meeting that drew about 400 people. Many of them expressed distrust of Muslims and fears that the mosque would harbor terrorists, the New York Times reports.
Though Fr Fennessy signed a contract last month to sell the vacant convent to the Muslim American Society for $750,000, he wrote in his letter, "I wish to formally withdraw my support for the sale and request that it not take place."
The sale of any parish property must be approved by that parish's board of trustees, which includes the pastor, two lay members of his congregation, the archdiocese's vicar general and the archbishop.
Last week New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan referred on his blog to the vehement opposition to the proposed mosque and one planned near ground zero.
"Legitimate and understandable concerns about these two endeavors have arisen, and it is good these are being aired and discussed," he wrote, adding, "It is acceptable to ask questions about security, safety, the background and history of the groups hoping to build and buy."
"What is not acceptable," he concluded, "is to prejudge any group, or to let fear and bias trump the towering American (and for us Catholics, the religious) virtues of hospitality, welcome, and religious freedom."
SIC: CTHUSA