Dolan: Pope Francis Should Urge Moderate Muslims To Stand Up, Speak Out
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - In an interview, Cardinal Timothy Dolan said he wants Pope Francis to do more to influence moderate Muslim leaders to speak out against groups like ISIS and Boko Haram.
Speaking with Cruxnow.com, Dolan said he would urge Francis "to be more direct in calling for a thoughtful, moderate, temperate Islamic response."
"We all believe in our hearts that these fanatics no more represent mainstream classical Islam than the IRA represented Catholicism," Dolan told Cruxnow. "But when the IRA blew things up in Ireland, the bishops would immediately say, 'They're not Catholics.' When Islamic extremists act, we don't hear the thoughtful, moderate, classical Islamic voices, who we all believe are representative of true Islam, speak up in an effective way."
"I would say, 'Holy Father, continue your insistence that temperate Islamic leaders speak up, give them a platform to do it, and call them to task. Ask them, 'Where are you? Because we need you.''"
Dolan also spoke about the beheading of American journalist James Foley and anti-Christian violence worldwide.
"Since the Foley beheading, there have been at least a dozen people who usually aren't very intense in their reactions to this, not all of them believers, who have said to me, 'Now we know what you're talking about. Now we know it's not hyperbole to say that we are dealing with an extremist, irrational, anti-Christian, anti-religious band of thugs that really has a worldwide platform and must be stopped.'"
You can read the entire interview here.
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