Dear Mayor Fenty:
We, the undersigned, are patriotic Americans who strongly believe in freedom of religion and the constitutionally protected separation of church and state. As such, we are deeply troubled by the decision to allow Joseph Ratzinger, a/k/a/ Pope Benedict, to perform a Catholic mass in the new Washington Nationals baseball park.
The $611,000,000 stadium has been funded by taxpayers dollars. The presence of the pope and his entourage will require security and police protection, also paid for by taxpayers dollars. There are numerous Catholic facilities, churches, cathedrals, and basilicas, in the District where the pope should be free to perform any Catholic ritual he pleases. The pope is also free, as a visitor to the United States, to attend a Nationals baseball game if he so chooses. A taxpayer-funded public facility is not a place for any religious rituals.
Therefore, we strongly protest the presence of the pope at the Nationals stadium for the purpose of saying mass, and implore you to reconsider and ban this unconstitutional event.
