CNA Staff, Oct 6, 2020 / 09:00 am
The U.S. bishops' religious freedom chair has called for better protection of churches and other houses of worship, following a recent series of acts of vandalism.
Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami joined other religious leaders in a letter to congressional leaders on Monday, asking for quadrupled funding of a federal security grant program for non-profits.
"Our sacred spaces have been desecrated, and our faithful murdered," Archbishop Wenski and other Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh leaders said in their letter. They wrote that "we believe that all people ought to be free from fear when gathering for religious worship and service."
According to FBI statistics cited in the letter, at least 1,244 hate crimes were committed in 2018 against members of the various denominations and congregations represented.