I am a Roman Catholic and a member of the Knights of Columbus. I recently heard on Catholic TV (EWTN) from a former ambassador to the Vatican, Raymond Flynn, that the Obama administration is planning to downgrade the current Vatican embassy to a lesser subembassy. The Vatican is the government that represents the Roman Catholic Church.

I vehemently oppose this proposal to reduce the Vatican embassy from its current status.

The Vatican is the seat of the Roman Catholicism, which includes more than one billion-plus members, worldwide. There are about 75 million U.S. Catholics, which is almost 25 percent of the U.S. population.

The downgrading of the Vatican embassy would be a disgrace to its membership and another attack against the Catholic faith. The administration already has imposed government regulations on the church that are contrary to the teachings and traditions of the Roman Catholic faith.

I urge others to join me in writing to President Barack Obama to express opposition to the potential downgrading of the Vatican embassy.

Ralph W. ArditoAugusta


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