U.S. Army Captain Michael Kelvington, commander of the Battle company, 1-508 Parachute Infantry battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, bows next to remains of Gulam Dostager, a member of Afghan Local Police who was killed in the blast of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) during the joint Tor Janda (Black Flag in Pashtu) operation, in Zahri district of Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan May 25, 2012.  REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov  (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: MILITARY CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Reuters Photojournalism

Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography.  See more | Photo caption 

Members of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels fly over the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan as part of the 25th annual Fleet Week celebration in New York, May 23, 2012.  REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz (UNITED STATES - Tags: MILITARY ANNIVERSARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Fleet Week

The U.S. Navy takes Manhattan for a week.  Slideshow 

Photo

The SpaceX mission

A privately owned unmanned rocket blasts off on a mission to be the first commercial flight to the International Space Station.  Slideshow 

Vatican condemns planned Koran burning in U.S.

Related Topics

ROME | Wed Sep 8, 2010 4:21pm EDT

ROME (Reuters) - The Vatican added to world condemnation of plans by a Florida church to commemorate the September 11 attacks on the United States by burning a Koran, calling it an "outrageous" act.

Leaders ranging from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the head of the Islamic Society of North America and the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan have denounced plans by the pastor of a tiny Florida church to burn a copy of the Koran.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Vatican said it had heard with great concern of the planned commemoration of the September 11, 2001 hijack attacks, which killed 2,752 people.

"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," it said.

"Each religion, with its respective sacred books, places of worship and symbols, has the right to respect and protection," it said in the statement.

(Writing by James Mackenzie; editing by Michael Roddy)

We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (1)
Sacred a book containing text which has been used since its inception to justify murder against other?

It is rather absurd we have the notion of Freedom of religion where religions very text vilifies other, restricts the independence of its devotees sometimes violently and enables the terror which has occurred because of these very same religions texts driving actions.

As well to claim there is Anti-Muslim ‘Bigotry’ is a bit hypocritical given anyone who has read the Quran “The COW” know a Muslim is automatically a bigot. Why do you think Islamic violence occurs it has to be based on a textual construct – read it if you do not believe me. That is only the start.

Those who failed to survive the Nazi ideology would find it rather an obscenity to utilize Nazi actions to condemn the burning of the Quran. On considering both the Quran and Mein Kampf I am sure they would have no reticence in burning both together for exactly the same reasons.

I challenge those who believe the Quran is simply an innocuous religious book being taken out of context and therefore sacrosanct to get a copy of the Quran and Mein Kampf make two columns as you read through both write down the derogatory notions against other. Notice any similarities? Note the one which outstrips the other regards the degree of vitriol against other.

The Quran was written by men for men trapped in a seventh century misogynistic tribal society. Some of us are simply pointing out whatever good is in the text is far outweighed by the grievous harm the text generates against other and should be changed.

Sep 08, 2010 9:03pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
This discussion is now closed. We welcome comments on our articles for a limited period after their publication.