Sun Apologizes for Church Ad

Sun Apologizes for Church Ad

    The Baltimore Sun issued an apology after a full page advertisement titled "Earth’s Final Warning" drew numerous complaints, including one from Roman Catholic Cardinal William H. Keeler, archbishop of Baltimore.
     The ad, placed by Florida-based Eternal Gospel Church, was a five-column, single-spaced attack on Catholic and Protestant churches that observe the Sabbath on Sunday. The church was formed by former members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, which believes the Bible mandates observance of the Sabbath on Saturday.
     The ad identifies the Catholic church as the bibilical "whore of Babylon" and warns of its "false doctrines and traditions."
      Keeler called it a "hate ad" and contacted Sun Publisher Michael Waller with his concerns about the ad, which ran on a Sunday and Monday.
     The Sun responded to complaints by printing an apology in the Wednesday edition in which it said it had erred in accepting the advertisement, not realizing it was offensive to the religious community. The paper also said any profits from the ad will be donated to the United Way and it will no longer accept any ads from the Eternal Gospel Church.

–- from reports in The Sun