Vatican Paper Slams Koran Burning on 9/11

VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican newspaper says Christians around the world are protesting a plan by an American minister to burn the Koran on the Sept. 11 anniversary.

"No one burns the Koran," read the headline in Tuesday's L'Osservatore Romano.

The article summarized criticism from Catholic bishops, including Archbishop Lawrence John Saldanha of Lahore, Pakistan, who condemned the plan as "contrary to the respect owed all religions and against our doctrine and faith."

Pastor Terry Jones of the small, evangelical Dove World Outreach Center has said he will go ahead with plans to burn copies of Islam's holy book to protest the Sept. 11 attacks, despite a warning from the top U.S. general in Afghanistan that U.S. troops would be endangered as a result.