Cardinal Dolan Hails ‘Our Islamic Brothers and Sisters,’ Calls Ash Wednesday ‘Our Ramadan’
Robert Spencer | 4:58 PM on March 01, 2025
On Friday, Timothy Cardinal Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, posted on X: “Ramadan starts tomorrow! Ramadan is the season of penance for our Islamic brothers and sisters. Do they ever take it seriously! I tell you that because Ash Wednesday is coming up – that’s kind of like our Ramadan.” These generous statements were entirely in keeping with the spirit of ecumenism that Pope Francis has advocated so assiduously, and so the cardinal’s words came as no surprise, but their graciousness was no guarantor of their accuracy. Unfortunately, virtually every part of Dolan’s statement was wrong, and some of it was dangerously misleading.
Ramadan is not, first off, exactly a “season of penance.” It does involve self-denial and cultivation of a sense of self-control, although the gorging all night somewhat mitigates the ascetic effect of the fasting all day, the focus is not primarily upon penance. Nobody “gives something up for Ramadan.” Ramadan superficially resembles Lent in that it is a season for Muslims to redouble their efforts to please Allah, but in Islam, this takes on a radically different form from efforts to please God in Christianity. (Note for those who need it: yes, “Allah” is the Arabic word for God — actually “the God,” and yes, Arabic-speaking Christians do use the word, although some, notably Copts, shy away from doing so because of its association with the God of the Qur’an. I am using it here to refer to that God.)
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