Washington D.C., Oct 18, 2011 / 17:02 pm
Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, is pressing the Obama administration to protect the rights of religious minorities in Egypt and around the world.
“On behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, I want to express our deep concern that a pattern of violence against minorities, especially Christians, has emerged and a culture of impunity has allowed that violence to grow and spread,” said Archbishop Dolan in an Oct. 14 letter to President Barack Obama.
The letter follows an Oct. 9 attack on Coptic Christians in Cairo. The crackdown by the military left over 20 dead and close to 300 injured.
Following the outbreak of violence, the White House issued an Oct. 10 statement urging “restraint on all sides” and insisting that “all people have the universal rights of peaceful protest and religious freedom.”