The leader of the Roman Catholic church in New York City is trying to establish a regular meeting between Catholics and Muslim leaders, aiming to discuss and defuse contentious issues such as those raised by plans to build a mosque near Ground Zero.Archbishop Timothy Dolan said the church was not trying to tell or suggest to Muslims that they move the proposed mosque and Islamic community center, slated to be built two blocks from the former World Trade Center site.
have taken place for decades between Catholic clerics and rabbinical leaders, during which they hash out differences and try to build understanding between the two faiths."I'm afraid we have maybe not been as energetic with fostering relations with our Islamic brothers and sisters,'' the archbishop said during an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday in his private office at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers. "Our coming together is not to say we can settle the mosque site issue,'' he said, but "the wider issue of Church, Jewish, Islamic tensions.''
His goal, he said, is for leaders to know what to do "when conflict happens.''
He said his staff is working with two rabbis and two imams to identify religious leaders, both clerics and lay people, who should be invited. He wants the first meeting to take place this month.
The imams who have been contacted by the archdiocese, as well as the developers of the mosque, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Abe Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, who has been criticized for questioning the appropriateness of situating a mosque near a sight attacked by Muslim terrorists, said the archbishop's idea was "wonderful…. I think it's appropriate and necessary.'' Mr. Foxman said he would be honored to take part, if asked.
The issue of erecting an Islamic center and mosque near the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has divided the country, with some defending its placement as a religious-freedom matter and others decrying the plans as a sign of disrespect toward 9/11 victims and their families.
The archbishop made his comments less than two weeks after he offered to mediate in the dispute between proponents and critics of the Islamic center. At the time, he suggested that the developers consider moving the location, an aside that invited criticism from some who said the cleric was being indecisive.
On Wednesday he said he was "irritated" with himself for muddying the waters during that impromptu news conference.
The archbishop said he has been distressed by bigoted comments uttered by both proponents and opponents of the mosque. "You can't say that anyone opposed to putting up the mosque is driven by anti-Islamic bigotry,'' he said.
He has also been criticized for not mentioning that Roman Catholics were persecuted by nativists in the early 1800s who said the immigrants would establish a papal "beachhead" in America.
He mentioned that history Wednesday. "We can't let fanatics on either side take over'' the debate, he said.
SIC: WSJ/USA