The Vatican says this action does violence against a religion and is considered a hate crime. Sept. 11 will also coincidentally be just a couple of days after Eid, the day after Ramadan where Muslims break their month-long fast.
Federico Lombardi, the current director of the Holy See Press Office, says:
The terrorist attack of September 11 was surely a horrendous crime and we cannot forget the incredible loss of human life and the suffering that it had caused but the correct way to demonstrate our horror for this crime is surely not the outrage against the sacred book of an immense religious community, the Muslim world, for which we have to demonstrate profound respect.
The Catholic Church respects religious freedom all around the globe. Therefore, the Vatican has always condemned attempts to curtail this freedom. For example, the Church opposed a law banning minaret construction in Switzerland. Also, the archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, has said Muslims have the right to build a mosque and community centre near ground zero.
The Catholic Church recognizes that many many Christians live under persecution by governments and people of certain religious groups. Therefore, in order to advocate for the freedom of Christians, the Church also requests the freedom of all religions.
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