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"Unless the Christians wake up, life may be Islamised and Christianity will not have the strength to imprint its character on the life of people, not to say society."
Czech Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, the Archbishop of Prague, said Muslims were well placed to fill the spiritual void "created as Europeans systematically empty the Christian content of their lives".
"Europe will pay dear for having left its spiritual foundations and that this is the last period that will not continue for decades when it may still have a chance to do something about it," he said.
"The Muslims definitely have many reasons to be heading here. They also have a religious one – to bring the spiritual values of faith in God to the pagan environment of Europe, to its atheistic style of life.
Meanwhile, NATO's Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Friday urged Muslim nations to contribute troops for service in Afghanistan to help avoid the appearance of a religious war.
"Active participation by Muslim nations would underscore that NATO's effort in Afghanistan is not about religion, but a struggle against extremism and terror," Rasmussen said in an interview with the Danish daily newspaper Berlingske Tidende.
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Cardinal says Christian Europe is to blame for Islamisation
A leading Catholic cardinal has said Europeans only have themselves to blame for allowing Islam to "conquer" the continent.
By Simon Caldwell, Telegraph
Published: 5:37PM GMT 06 Jan 2010
Czech Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, the Archbishop of Prague, said Muslims were well placed to fill the spiritual void "created as Europeans systematically empty the Christian content of their lives".
"Europe will pay dear for having left its spiritual foundations and that this is the last period that will not continue for decades when it may still have a chance to do something about it," he said.
"The Muslims definitely have many reasons to be heading here. They also have a religious one – to bring the spiritual values of faith in God to the pagan environment of Europe, to its atheistic style of life.
"Unless the Christians wake up, life may be Islamised and Christianity will not have the strength to imprint its character on the life of people, not to say society."
The 77-year-old cardinal made his remarks in an interview to mark his retirement after spending 19 years as the leader of the Czech Church.
He said he did not blame Muslims for the crisis as Europeans had brought it upon themselves by exchanging their Christian culture for an aggressive secularism that embraced atheism.
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"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," he said.
"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.
"Today, when the fighting is done with spiritual weapons which Europe lacks while Muslims are perfectly armed, the fall of Europe is looming."
He called on Christians to respond to the threat of Islamisation by living their own religious faith more observantly.
Last year Cardinal Jose Policarpo, the Patriarch of Lisbon, warned Catholic women against marrying Muslims.
Italian Cardinal Giacomo Biffi also urged the Italian government to give priority to Catholic migrants over Muslims in order to protect his country's religious identity.
The Vatican has also opposed Turkey joining the European Union partly because the Muslim country does not share the continent's Christian heritage.
» » » » [Telegraph.UK]
NATO Chief Wants Muslims to Serve In Afghanistan
John Acher & Matthew Jones, Reuters * New York Times
Published: January 8, 2010
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COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Friday urged Muslim nations to contribute troops for service in Afghanistan to help avoid the appearance of a religious war.
"Active participation by Muslim nations would underscore that NATO's effort in Afghanistan is not about religion, but a struggle against extremism and terror," Rasmussen said in an interview with the Danish daily newspaper Berlingske Tidende.
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"And so in talks with a number of Muslim nations I have encouraged them to consider positively a contribution to the mission in Afghanistan," said Rasmussen, a former Danish prime minister who took over as NATO's top official in August 2009.
Rasmussen said he valued highly alliance member Turkey's contribution in Afghanistan. Predominantly Muslim Turkey has some 1,750 soldiers in and around Kabul as part of NATO's 85,000-strong International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
Rasmussen said other Muslim countries he had spoken with had not decided whether to participate but many had shown understanding of the matter.
Rasmussen's NATO appointment was opposed by some politicians in Turkey largely because of his role as prime minister during an international uproar in 2006 sparked by a Danish newspaper's publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad in 2005.
Rasmussen said that since taking over as secretary-general he had formed good relations with Turkey and other Muslim states and the cartoon episode had had no effect on his current job.
"Already on my first day as secretary-general, I made it clear that one of my priorities was to improve NATO's cooperation with countries in the Muslim world," Rasmussen said.
"We have established the absolute best relations, and I have also received invitations to most Muslim countries," he added.
Rasmussen said he expected a NATO conference on Afghanistan later this month in London to renew the commitment between the international community and the Afghan government and reaffirm the alliance's intention to continue the effort in Afghanistan.
He said he also expected good governance from Afghan officials, including a fight against corruption and narcotics.
"I expect President Karzai to put forward a plan for how he will live up to our expectations," Rasmussen said.
» » » » [New York Times, via Infidels Unite: Counter Jihad]
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