Anglican Communion Leaders speak out against proposed Quran burning

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

Leaders of the Anglican Communion speak out against proposed Quran 
burning

Posted On : September 10, 2010 9:53 PM | Posted By : Webmaster
ACNS: http://www.aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2010/9/10/ACNS4730
Related Categories: ACO

Senior bishops right across the Anglican Communion have spoken out
against plans by a small Florida church to burn copies of the Quran. 
The
leaders, many in countries with sizeable Muslim populations, spoke out
against the burning, labelling the proposed act as "disastrous", 
"ugly"
and "deeply deplorable".

Bishops from countries including Nigeria, England, Jerusalem, Egypt 
and
Sudan all criticised the proposal of Terry Jones, leader of the
previously little-known Dove World Outreach Centre in Gainesville in
Florida, to burn hundreds of copies of the Quran.

Dr. Alexander John Malik, Bishop of Lahore in Pakistan said, "Muslims
should take it as an individual act of a man who was bent upon 
defaming
Christianity." He said that interfaith harmony should not be put at
stake just for an individual's act.

In Nigeria, Bishop Josiah Fearon asked: "Would Christ do this [burn 
the
Quran] in the interest of His Kingdom and the Great Commission that he
passed on to his followers?" He concluded that Christ would not and
called for Mr Jones not to proceed with his plans.

In a statement written in Arabic, the Bishop of Egypt, Dr. Mouneer 
Anis*
said, "We strongly denounce any attempt to insult sacred texts that
belong to our Muslim friends. We condemn the attempt to burn the Quran
by one of the American pastors. We noticed that the church in which 
this
is going to happen is an independent congregational church, and it is
not part of any known denomination. We see this action as a departure
from the teaching of Jesus Christ who called for love and peace.

"We grieve at the growth of the spirit fanaticism and extremism in USA
and other parts of the world. We appeal to all followers of religions
who love peace, to work together in order to overcome all the
misconceptions, and in order to develop a spirit of love and peaceful
co-existence. We here in Egypt are proud of the friendly spirit that
prevails among Muslims and Christians who have lived together for
fourteen centuries."

The Rt. Rev. Suheil S. Dawani, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of
Jerusalem and the Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem said that of course
Anglican leaders should condemn the proposed burning. "Our faith must
include mutual respect for each other and does not allow us to do such
ugly things," he said. "This damages the interfaith work and the
relationships we have which are built on the values we share in common
with one another."

Five bishops from Ireland, including the Primate, also issued a
statement saying: "This deliberate desecration of scriptures sacred to
all Muslims is a gratuitous act of sectarianism and totally contrary 
to
the Christian spirit of love and reconciliation. We recognise that the
pain of this outrage will be felt by members of Islamic communities
throughout the world.

We wish to assure members of the Muslim community in Ireland, that we
condemn this sectarian act. We hope that as we continue to meet, talk
and work together for the common good, our understanding of one
another's faith will grow and friendship between Christian and Muslim
will deepen."

Bishop Michael Jackson, Chairman of Network of Inter Faith Concerns of
the Anglican Communion said, "Our work throughout the worldwide 
Anglican
Communion brings us in contact daily with people of many world faiths
who live alongside one another and strive to do so respectfully and
peaceably. This act of violence and desecration of sacred scriptures
does nothing to advance the peaceful co-existence essential to the
dialogue of life and of ideas which lies at the heart of interfaith
work".

The Archbishop of Sudan, the Most Rev Dr Daniel Deng denounced all 
acts
of terror and said, "Both the Quran and the Bible instruct people to
love one another. The fundamentalist acts of the past should not be
allowed to generate further fundamentalism in the Christian world.
Furthermore, we should not allow bitterness and hatred to drive us way
from God, in whose nature the virtues of love, mercy, and forgiveness
are perpetual."

In his 2010 Eid message, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan 
Williams
said that the threat to desecrate scriptures was "deeply deplorable" 
and
to be "strongly condemned by all people".

"These are challenges that we must respond to with a consistent 
message:
that we oppose collectively all such provocations and insist that 
there
is no place in our traditions for violent response."

The Quran burning is scheduled to take place tomorrow, Saturday 11
September, although the Rev Jones has said that he is undecided about
whether it will indeed go ahead.

> ENDS

> Notes to Editors

1.      *The Most Rev. Dr. Mouneer Hanna Anis is the Bishop of the
Episcopal / Anglican Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn 
of
Africa, President Bishop of the Episcopal / Anglican Province of
Jerusalem and the Middle East.

2.      The Anglican Communion Office serves the Anglican Communion,
comprising around 80 million members in 44 regional and national 
member
churches around the globe in more than 160 countries.
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/

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