Mother Teresa would have turned 100 today — an event celebrated with a Mass in Calcutta, India, where she devoted her life to the poor — and some Catholics are upset that the Empire State Buliding won’t be lighting up in blue and white in her honor. They’re heading to the skyscraper from 6 to 7:30 p.m. to make their voices heard, in a protest organized by William Donohue, of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights.
From The New York Times:
“It’s simply an outrage that they would turn down our request to honor Mother Teresa when in the past they have lit up the building to honor Communist China and the DVD release of ‘The Simpsons Movie,’ ” said Mr. Donohue, referring to the 2007 lighting (in yellow) for the film and the 2009 red-and-yellow lighting for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
A spokesman for Mr. Malkin said that while the building had traditionally been lighted in recognition of religious holidays like Hanukkah and Christmas, its self-imposed guidelines “state clearly that we do not accommodate requests for religious figures or requests by religions.”
Several politicians, political candidates and media personalities plan to participate in the rally, which Politics Daily notes only has one Catholic priest slated to speak. (Sounds like it’ll be a zoo, but maybe it’ll give the tourists an extra bang for their buck.)
What do you think? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below.
*Click here to subscribe to Belief Beat and click here to follow Belief Beat on Twitter.