Chicago, Ill., Feb 17, 2010 / 19:05 pm
In response to an atheist group calling for the removal of a proposed Mother Teresa stamp last month, a petition organized by CatholicVoteAction.org has received over 70,000 signatures from individuals who support the stamp.
Supporters of the stamp sent a letter to Postmaster General Jack Potter, asking him to reject claims from the atheist group that the stamp violates postal regulations. The Mother Teresa stamp is scheduled to be released on Aug. 26.
“We want the Postmaster General to know that millions of Americans support their decision to issue a new stamp honoring Mother Teresa,” said Brian Burch, president of CatholicVoteAction.org on Tuesday. “While we are pleased that Postmaster General Potter has defended the decision thus far, we will continue to push back against those seeking to denigrate this faith-filled nun who spent her life caring for the poor and needy of our world.”
The petition follows a recent claim by the atheist Freedom from Religion Foundation that the Mother Teresa stamp violates a postal regulation against “honoring religious institutions or individuals whose principal achievements are associated with religious undertakings.” Annie Gaylor, spokesperson for the group, argued last month that “Mother Teresa is principally known as a religious figure who ran a religious institution. You can't really separate her being a nun and being a Roman Catholic from everything she did.”