Cardinal Echoes Criticisms of Muslims for Not Condemning Terrorism Enough

April 11, 2004

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3616505.stm

On April 11, 2004 the BBC News reported, "The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has echoed criticism of Muslim leaders for not doing enough to denounce acts of terrorism. Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor told the GMTV Sunday Programme he agreed with comments made by the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey. Last month, Lord Carey said not enough moderate Muslims condemned attacks carried out 'in the name of Allah.' Since then, Muslim leaders have urged mosques to help police fight terrorism. When Lord Carey said too few Muslim leaders clearly condemned the evil of suicide bombers, Muslim leaders accused him of 'religious prejudice.' But the cardinal said: 'I think what he said was fundamentally true. He had highlighted something that needed to be highlighted.' He said the former archbishop, who had made his comments on the eve of a seminar between Christians and Muslims in New York, had contributed a lot of his life to building bridges between the two faiths. Cardinal Murphy O'Connor also called on the West to tackle the gross poverty and inequality which was the root cause of terrorism."