A senior US Cardinal has said that the 'angry and violent mob' that gathered in Charlottesville at the weekend 'contradicted our national creed and code of conduct' and that all racism dishonours 'the American political and constitutional traditions'.
Seán O'Malley, who is Archbishop of Boston, issued a statement yesterday printed on The Boston Pilot website which comprehensively condemned all forms of 'voices' in favour of nationalism, Nazism, extremism and racism against African Americans, Jews, Muslims and immigrants in the wake of the clashes in Virginia.
'We have not always as a nation reflected the best of our ideas and ideals, but they stand as a goal toward which we strive,' he said. 'Our country is once again in a moment when the civic and biblical heritage is being attacked and tested. We need to reassert and reaffirm the belief that one nation is meant to include all: the multiple races, cultures, ethnicities and religions which make up our country.
'The angry and violent mob which gathered in Virginia this past weekend, by word and deed, contradicted our national creed and code of civil conduct. As a nation in the past century we led the struggle against the pagan ideas of Nazism. Those who seek to resurrect a new form of Nazism and extreme nationalism -- those who denigrate African Americans, who preach and practice anti-Semitism, who disparage Muslims, those who threaten and seek to banish immigrants in our land -- all these voices dishonour the basic convictions of the American political and constitutional traditions. They must be opposed in word and deed.'
The Cardinal said he welcomed 'the opportunity to stand with other religious leaders of the land in opposition to the voices of fragmentation and hatred', adding: 'The truth that our rights and our duties to each other derive from God. The truth that we can successfully oppose hatred and bigotry by civility and charity. These truths can bind us together across racial, religious and ethnic communities. They can help us celebrate our pluralism as a rich treasure which strengthens this land.
'Today when our unity is tested, when our basic truths of faith and reason are violated, as people of faith and as citizens we must uphold our ideas and ideals. My prayer is that we can rise to this challenge. My belief is that we are surely capable of doing so.'
The Cardinal's hard-hitting statement came after widespread condemnation from Christian leaders across denominations.
Other American Catholic leaders including Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued a statement condemning 'the evil of racism, white supremacy and neo-nazism'.
They also prayed for peaceful counter-protesters, saying that 'our prayer turns today, on the Lord's Day, to the people of Charlottesville who offered a counter example to the hate marching in the streets.'
They continued: 'Let us especially remember those who lost their lives. Let us join their witness and stand against every form of oppression.'
Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia said that 'the wave of public anger about white nationalist events in Charlottesville this weekend is well warranted.
'Racism is a poison of the soul. It's the ugly, original sin of our country, an illness that has never fully healed. Blending it with the Nazi salute, the relic of a regime that murdered millions, compounds the obscenity.'
Bishop Martin Holley of Memphis called the racist rallies and the violence 'appalling,' adding: 'May this shocking incident and display of evil ignite a commitment among all people to end the racism, violence, bigotry and hatred that we have seen too often in our nation and throughout the world.'
Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas tweeted: 'Racism is a grave sin rooted in pride, envy and hatred. It suffocates the soul by means of expelling from it the charity of Christ.'
Bishop James Conley of Lincoln wrote on Twitter: 'Pray for an end to the evil of racism. And pray, especially today, for its victims. Pray for justice and mercy in our nation.'
Many evangelicals also condemned racism following the clashes.
The evangelical consultant Johnnie Moore wrote: 'EVERY evangelical I know condemns antisemitism, white nationalism, and supremacism. The Christian church is proudly and increasingly the most ethnically diverse movement in the world.'
Evangelist Jay Stack tweeted, 'Racial hatred, violence, white supremacy & Nazism are Satanic. AntiChrist As well as Anti-American!... Praying for @realDonaldTrump. For our President @attorneygeneral jeff sessions, The victims & families, law enforcement, first responders & USA.'
And Paula White, who regularly prays with the president and leads a majority-black congregation in Florida, stated that 'white supremacy is evil,' adding: 'The tragedy of Charlottesville extends beyond the loss of life into the very heart of race relations in America. Dialogue has been overcome by violence. Progress is sacrificed at the altar of fury. We need a renewal of grace. God help us."
At the same time, other leading evangelicals spoke out more generally against racism.
Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, who last week controversially claimed that Trump had 'authority from God' to take nuclear action against North Korea, wrote: 'Pray for peace in Charlottesville and across our nation. Let there be no misunderstanding. Racism is sin. Period.'
Georgia pastor Jentezen Franklin wrote: 'This is evil personified and we denounce it. This is what hatred and sin looks like. Their hate will not win. Racism is still alive and well, the only answer is God's love and the church of Jesus Christ standing hand in hand with our brothers and sisters of every race.'
Meanwhile, Episcopalian clergy issued their own statements condemning the hatred and violence.
'Members of 'alt-right' groups, Klan members, and Neo-Nazis are not patriots and they are not Christian,' said the Bishop of Arizona, Kirk S. Smith. 'They are evil, and we in the Church must be unequivocal in condemning both their ideology and their actions.'
'No more nice,' said the Dean of St Paul's Cathedral, Burlington, in Vermont, Jeanne Finan. 'I am not condoning violence but we need to start naming this evil, this hate.'
