Attacks have been growing on Catholic churches nationwide, but Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, said Friday he's more fearful of the rise of anti-religion sentiment overall and not just against his church.
He also told Fox News' "Fox and Friends" that parochial schools are ready to reopen, and he'd want to keep Catholic schools in New York City open even if Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered the city schools to close over coronavirus.
Parochial schools are ready to open and to "get on with life," and getting children back in school is one of the best ways to do that.
"It's better for them to be in school in a safe, secure, sanitized situation," Dolan said. "Let's get them back because parents can't go to work. Transportation isn't going to get started. The routine and the blessed normal life that all of us miss ain't going to get back on track until we get our kids back to school. So let's do it."
Meanwhile, on religion, Dolan said Catholics are very often accused of being "way, way, way too meek when it comes to defending ourselves."
"I know here in New York I'm blessed with the company and friendship of a lot of Jewish rabbis and who are forever saying 'Timothy, be careful, we Jews have learned the hard way. When they start defacing your building and they start throwing Molotov cocktails and when they start cutting down objects of devotion and burning your books of prayer you better be careful,'" he said.
But, Dolan said he's more afraid of overall anti-religious sentiment and is apprehensive about "a rise in anti-Semitism, a rise just in anti-religion and faith in general, and of course, the Catholic faith is a big chunk of that."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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