PUBLIC STATEMENT regarding the bombing of a Coptic Church in Alexandria, Egypt

We categorically condemn this cruel and vicious act, which has murdered innocent Coptic Christian worshipers and desecrated a sacred house in which God's name is remembered and celebrated.  Prayerfully recalling the clear Qur'anic teaching that to kill a single soul unjustly is tantamount to killing all of humankind (5:32), we stand against all those who seek to justify such murderous behavior in the name of Islam or any other faith, and we pray for slain, the wounded, the bereaved, and all those who bear the scars of trauma resulting from this ungodly act.

Also, we call upon all believing and God-conscious people -- be they Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or of any other faith -- to exercise restraint in this raw moment of grief and outrage.  Only goodness and the Divine Light can dispel the darknesses of evil deeds and intentions, and so we seek refuge in the Divine lights of mercy and forgiveness and loving kindness, even as we work for justice in the world.  Remembering that God is one, that humanity was created from a single soul, and that it is to God's Blessed Unity that we are all returning, we call upon everyone to seek the unitive light of all prophetic teaching and to stand together in faith against all those who would divide us and seek to plant seeds of enmity between us.