Catholic League petitioning Empire State Building to honor Mother Teresa

New York City, N.Y., May 14, 2010 / 06:27 am

The Catholic League has launched a petition protesting the Empire State Building’s denial of an application to have the skyscraper’s lighting scheme commemorate Mother Teresa’s 100^th birthday. The organization sees a double standard in the decision, citing previous honors for the anniversary of China’s Communist Revolution.

In February Catholic League president Bill Donohue submitted an application on August 26 to the Empire State Building Lighting Partners to have the New York City building feature blue and white lights, the color of the religious habits worn by Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, Fox News reports.

The request was denied without explanation last week.

However, Donohue noted, the building changed its colors to red and yellow last year to honor the 60^th anniversary of China’s Communist Revolution.

“Yet under its founder, Mao Zedong, the Communists killed 77 million people. In other words, the greatest mass murderer in history merited the same tribute being denied to Mother Teresa,” Donohue said in a Wednesday statement.

Calling on the Empire State Building’s owner Anthony Malkin to reverse the decision, he listed many of the religious sister’s charitable works and honors:

“Mother Teresa received 124 awards, including Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Medal of Freedom. She built hundreds of orphanages, hospitals, hospices, health clinics, homeless shelters, youth shelters and soup kitchens all over the world, and is revered in India for her work. She created the first hospice in Greenwich Village for AIDS patients.

“Not surprisingly, she was voted the most admired woman in the world three years in a row in the mid-1990s. But she is not good enough to be honored by the Empire State Building."

Donohue also noted that the U.S. Postal Service is honoring Mother Teresa’s 100^th birthday by issuing a stamp dedicated to her.

The petition the Empire State building's owner reportedly had over 6,000 signers in its first day.