Muslim Clerics to Replace Rejected Cardinal for Democratic Convention Prayer-Fiction!

Muslim Clerics to Replace Rejected Cardinal for Democratic Convention Prayer-Fiction!

Summary of eRumor:
This is a forwarded email that says that the Democratic National Committee denied a Catholic cardinal’s request to say a prayer the Democratic Convention and instead  Muslim leaders will be hosting a two hour prayer event prior to the convention.
The Truth:
New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan will be offering a benediction at the closing of the 2012 Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Charlotte, North Carolina.  This according to an August 28 article in the New York Times.     The convention is scheduled to begin  September 3, 2012, and end on Thursday, September 6, 2012.

On August 30, 2012 Cardinal Dolan also closed the Republican National Convention with prayer in Tampa, Florida.
There will be a Muslim prayer event, or Jumah, in Charlotte North Carolina and it is advertised on flyers as a Democratic National Convention event.   The Jumah is scheduled  from August 31 through September 1, which means this event ends 2 days before the DNC is slated to begin.   According to an August 17, 2012 article in the the Charlotte Observer it is part of a sweeping series of spiritual events tied to the 2012 Democratic National Convention where both Christians and Muslims will be participating.  Click here for article.
Although the Jumah events do not appear on the official schedule of events page posted on the Democratic Convention web site they are listed on the website of the Charlotte in 2012 Convention Host Committee.  These events include prayer, a regal banquet, a cultural kids carnival and fun fest.  Click for web site.
Warnings went viral on the Internet shortly after this story appeared in an August 27, 2012 article posted on The Blaze, an opinion web site that, according to their about us page, has a goal to “post, report and analyze stories of interest on a wide range of topics from politics and culture to faith and family.”
To help stir the frenzy, a similar article linking the Blaze story appeared on the World Net Daily (WND) web site on August 28th.  Apparently, the “journalists” at the Blaze and WND  either intentionally omitted the part that Christians would also be participating in the prayer event or they forgot to do some important fact checking prior to sending out their alerts that exploded on the Super Information Highway.

According to a September 3rd, 2012 article by CNN a prayer will be invoked at the start of each day and there will be a benediction at the close of each day of the Democratic Convention by various religious leaders.   The schedule is:

Tuesday’s invocation:  Bishop of the Greek Orthodox Diocese of Detroit- Metropolitan Nicholas
Tuesday’s benediction:  Executive director of Blood- Water Mission- Jena Lee Nardella
Wednesday’s invocation: Presiding Bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church- Vashti Murphy McKenzie
Wednesday’s Benediction:  Rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles- David Wolpe,
Thursday invocation:  President of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition- Reverend Gabriel Salguero,
Thursday benediction: Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York- Timothy Dolan

updated 09/04/12