A Minnesota priest apologized for criticizing Islam in a recent sermon.
“My homily on immigration contained words that were hurtful to Muslims. I’m sorry for this. I realize now that my comments were not fully reflective of the Catholic Church’s teaching on Islam,” the Rev. Nick VanDenBroeke said in a statement posted on the website of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
VanDenBroeke, who has been the pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Lonsdale since 2017, claimed in a Jan. 5 sermon that Islam is “the greatest threat in the world” and it was the duty of the church to keep “bad ideas out of the country.”
“Both as Americans and as Christians, we do not need to pretend that everyone who seeks to enter America should be treated the same,” he said, according to City Pages. “I believe it is essential to consider the religion and worldview of the immigrants or refugees. More specifically, we should not be allowing large numbers of Muslims asylum or immigration into our country.”
“I’m not saying we hate Muslims,” he said. “They are people created out of love by God just as each one of us is. But while we certainly do not hate them as people, we must oppose their religion and worldview.”
Before the mea culpa, the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations had called on the state’s Catholic leaders to condemn the sermon.
Archbishop Bernard Hebda said Wednesday night he had spoken with VanDenBroeke about his remarks.
“He has expressed sorrow for his words and an openness to seeing more clearly the Church’s position on our relationship with Islam,” Hebda said of the conversation.
“I am grateful for the many examples of friendship that have been offered by the Muslim community in our region, and we are committed to strengthening the relationship between the two communities,” Hebda said in the statement.
