The Vatican has always been rather friendly with the Islamic world. Viewing Muslims as brothers of like, albeit different, convictions, the Roman Catholic church has supported Arab/Muslim initiatives throughout the 20th and early 21st century. There has been friction, to be sure, but overall the relationship has remained largely positive. Certainly a key part of this has been the mutual dislike of both sides for the state of Israel.
At the same time, many Catholic laypersons and even some clerics manifest an intense aversion and fear of Islam and its invasive, non-assimilating adherents. This is especially so in Europe, where Muslims have become the single largest minority on the Continent and have refused to be digested by secular European culture.
Clearly, there is a real tension between Rome and the Roman Catholic street. Rome, as always, is thinking long-term by fostering good social, political, and religious relations with the world's largest and fastest-growing demographic group. Catholics outside Rome are concerned with more mundane matters like the hostility they feel from Muslim populations in their day-to-day lives. The tension between the two poles only grows stronger as lay Catholics become more and more Islamophobic and the Vatican becomes more and more adamant that this attitude is contrary to church teaching.
A perfect case in point is the recent Swiss referendum on the banning of the construction of new minarets. While the Vatican and the Swiss bishop's conference drew back from the idea in horror, a large number of lay Catholics voted in favor of the ban. The result was a clear victory for anti-Islamic, isolationist Europeanism. Both the Swiss bishops and the Vatican issued statements condemning the ban after the fact.
Thus there is a real paradox--a two-sidedness to Vatican policy with regards to Islam--that cannot be denied. While the Vatican publicly supports the accommodation of Muslims within Europe, it is well known that the Vatican also wants to initiate a rebirth of Catholic Europe. There are whole Catholic organizations that devote themselves solely to the mission of reviving "true" European culture. Below I have listed several reasons why the Vatican continues to maintain a pro-Islamic stance despite the wishes of many Catholics outside Rome, and despite its own desires to purify the European continent:
1. As I mentioned, Muslims represents a tremendous segment of the world's population and it is in Rome's best interest to remain friendly with them. The last thing the Vatican wants is a terrorist incident at St. Peter's.
2. The Vatican always wants to look good on the world stage, and by unselfishly and ungrudgingly supporting the religious rights of its "competitor," the Vatican appears to be the most good-natured guy on the block.
3. The Vatican wants Islamic countries to reciprocate the good feelings by expanding the rights of Catholics within those countries.
4. The Vatican doesn't mind Europeans facing an "Islamic invasion" because this only leads those Europeans to return to their Catholic faith.
5. The Vatican wants to maintain friendly relations with Islam in order to be at the table for any final status negotiations on Jerusalem.
It is truly not surprising that the Vatican is speaking out of both sides of its mouth, because the Vatican always does that (for evidence of this, see this statement by a Vatican official that seemed to look favorably, or at least neutrally, on the Swiss ban even while the Secretary of State was condemning it). What is intriguing is how long the Vatican will be able to maintain this two-sided approach without infuriating lay Catholics and clergymembers.
Below I have posted two articles from very senior Catholic leaders. The first, from Catholic Culture, represents the official pro-Islamic Vatican stance. The second, from CNA, represents the anti-Islamic stance shared by many Catholics outside Rome, and certainly many inside it. I suspect that even Benedict XVI himself was secretly happy to see the Swiss express defiance against the religion of Muhammed.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Vatican Cardinal Decries Fear of Muslims, Says Saudi Arabia Should Permit Churches
In an interview with L’Osservatore Romano, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, who served as the Vatican’s foreign minister from 1990 to 2003 and was appointed president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in 2007, has called upon all nations of the world to enshrine the right of religious freedom in their nation’s laws.
“Currently religious freedom is assured in various Muslim countries, for example in those of the [Persian] Gulf, with the exception of Saudi Arabia, where nearly two million Christians do not have any possibility of gathering for their celebrations or in order to pray … They feel tolerated rather than a partner in public dialogue. And this does not do anyone any good.”
Commenting on the recent Swiss referendum that banned the construction of new minarets, Cardinal Tauran said that “naturally it is necessary to harmonize construction with the atmosphere in which it comes to be a part, with the city landscape, the cultural context, and the complex of the laws and norms that regulate the life of the society.” However, he described as “alarming” the “feeling of fear” that was associated with the vote. Decrying ignorance of Islam, he said, “I wonder if these persons [who are afraid] know Muslims, if they have ever opened the Qur’an.”
----------------------------------------------------------
.- The outgoing Archbishop of Prague Cardinal Miloslav Vlk has warned of the “Islamization” of Europe, calling for Europeans to return to their Christian roots. “The fall of Europe is looming,” he said in an interview published on his website.
"Europe has denied its Christian roots from which it has risen and which could give it the strength to fend off the danger that it will be conquered by Muslims -- which is actually happening gradually,” the cardinal said, according to Agence France Presse.
"If Europe doesn't change its relation to its own roots, it will be Islamized,” added the prelate.
Cardinal Vlk said that immigration and Muslims’ high birth rates have helped Muslims “easily fill the vacant space created as Europeans systematically empty the Christian content of their lives.”
"At the end of the Middle Ages and in the early modern age, Islam failed to conquer Europe with arms. The Christians beat them then,” he continued. "Today, when the fighting is done with spiritual weapons which Europe lacks while Muslims are perfectly armed, the fall of Europe is looming.”
Cardinal Vlk was persecuted by the communist regime toppled in 1989. He was named Archbishop of Prague in 1991 by Pope John Paul II.
He had offered his resignation two years ago at the age of 75, as required by Church law, but Pope Benedict asked him to continue serving.
The cardinal’s successor should be named this week, according to Czech news reports.
