Fr. Tanck poses once more with the Sikh reporter who cried foul (Source: Catholic Courier)
More interfaith gobbly-gook with yet another attack from the Sikh reporter against the people of St. Thomas:
“Yet when the television cameraman was asked by some parishioners to leave the sanctuary [What was he doing in the sanctuary in the first place? It seems disruptive and wholly inappropriate for a Sikh man to be filming within the holy of holies during the Mass] of an Irondequoit Catholic church in May — even though he said a staff member had given his station permission to film a Mass — Rakieten said he was stunned by the negative reaction the turban generated. As he left the sanctuary, he and the reporter accompanying him were confronted by several people who made negative comments about Rakieten’s turban.
“I was really upset,” Rakieten said. “Coming from a religious family, I’ve been to a mosque, a synagogue, and I’ve been to a Catholic church and a Christian church. I’ve never felt that type of hatred before.” [A gross exaggeration since in the article he mentions that he has been called “Bin Laden” in the past]“
In all our efforts to interfaith dialogue, do we ever actually dialogue? We Catholics are constantly being instructed about other faiths and chastised for our supposed insensitivity toward them, but when do we ever teach other faiths about our beliefs, traditions, and customs? If one reads the Catholic Courier article from which the above paragraphs come (click here to do so), there is a clear explanation about the significance of the turban to Sikh men. All well and good. However, where is the explanation about the significance of men uncovering their heads when they enter a church in our Roman Catholic tradition? There is none. Perhaps if true dialogue were occurring, this reporter would realize that he is the one who was at fault for disrespecting our traditions, not the Roman Catholic faithful who were offended by his disrespect toward the Catholic sanctuary and the Mass. Instead of Bishop Clark and Fr. Tanck apologizing on behalf of Catholics, the Sikh reporter should apologize for his disrespectful display.
Dialogue is a two-way street, otherwise all you have is a monologue.
Tags: IPPG, Progressive Drivel
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I concur!
If I went to a Muslim prayer service, I would respect the traditions of Islam. For example, I might remove my shoes, hat, etc. Granted there are things I might not do, such as bow down before an image of Muhammad, or something like that. At the same time, I would be prudent enough not to go to a Muslim prayer service where I would be expected to do something like that and violate my conscience.
I think Muslims if they come to Mass should have the same respect for our traditions. When one is in a Catholic Church, one does as Catholics do. If it would have been against this man’s conscience to remove the Turban, then he should have been prudent enough not to come to Mass in the first place.
Wow, this photograph speaks volumes! I’ve never seen Fr. Tanck pose for a picture with any of the other cluster priests. If there was a caption for this picture, it would probably be: “See, you guys, I’m on your side. Those nasty St. Thomas people won’t bother you anymore…I’ve shut their bitter angry church down for good! Let’s all hold hands and sing the Sikh version of kumbaya!”
The DoR sure found their man in Fr. Tanck to do their dirty work in Irondequoit. Shame on him….he will long be remembered for what he has done to harm the Catholic Church in Rochester.