August 07, 2012: The chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious
Affairs expressed the bishops’ prayerful solidarity with the Sikh community in the
United States following the August 5 shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin. “In
this time of grief, we Catholics mourn with our Sikh brothers and sisters,” said Bishop
Denis Madden, auxiliary bishop of Baltimore. “We share a warm and fruitful friendship,
as well as a love of God and a belief in the community of all people, making yesterday’s
tragedy all the more painful and difficult to comprehend.” A gunman killed six
people and critically wounded three others after opening fire during a worship service
at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
Bishop Madden added,
“The U.S. bishops stand with the Sikh community and reject all violence, particularly
violence inflicted out of religious intolerance. We are especially saddened that this
horrendous act was carried out in a house of worship against people joined together
as a family to worship God. Our prayers are with everyone touched by this, especially
those who’ve lost family members and loved ones.” The gunman who opened fire at
the Temple near Milwaukee on Sunday has been identified as a 40-year old veteran of
the United States Army.
The Secretariat for Interreligious and Ecumenical Affairs
of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has been in dialogue with the U.S. Sikh
Community since 2006. For more information, visit: www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/dialogue-with-others/interreligious/sikhism/