By Msgr. Pedro Lopez-Gallo

 

The world is quickly becoming aware of the remarkable increase in the number of Muslims in the European Union, North America, Australia, and many developed nations. Originally welcomed as immigrants mainly to perform jobs that the white ethnic groups of these countries would rather avoid, their fertility rate is higher than that of the host country’s native population and is tilting the demographic scale in their favour.

If “demography is our destiny,” and these two elements, Muslim immigration and their high fertility rate, are dramatically changing population statistics, we must be prepared for the consequences.

Thanks to Ius Soli (the right to citizenship of the place of birth) in many nations, the children of immigrants become citizens of the new country and acquire a new nationality, but this does not necessitate a change in religious adherence. Children of most Muslim immigrants retain the faith of their parents.

In contrast, many staunch Catholic couples today are not able to convince their adult children to stay true to the teachings of the Church. These young adults do not practise the faith and prefer to live common-law rather than marry in the Church. They eschew baptizing their children, so will these future generations have any faith formation?

Monsignor Vittorio Formenti, who compiles the yearbook of the Vatican, said: “For the first time in history we are no longer at the top. Muslims have overtaken us” (March 2008, interview with L’Osservatore Romano, the newspaper of the Holy See). Catholics accounted for 17.4 per cent of the world’s population, while Muslims were at 19.2 per cent.

Although it is true that Christians as a whole make up 33 per cent, historical research indicates that our current fertility rate is not sufficient to sustain our Christian culture. In fact it will soon be impossible to reverse, and if this trend continues, in a few decades Europe will consist of an Islamic majority.

The economically stronger countries of Europe have reported that if their population growth rate is not declining it is because of mainly Muslim immigration. Mosques are also reportedly beginning to outnumber churches.

The German government has declared that its demographic trend is irreversible. By 2050 it will very likely be a Muslim state. In the U.S., statistics indicate that the Muslim population has grown from 100,000 to over 9 million in less than 40 years.

The Libyan leader, Muammar al-Gaddafi, a bold champion of terrorism, in a speech broadcast by Al-Jazeera TV in April 2006, openly said: “There are signs that Allah will grant victory to Islam in Europe without swords, without guns, without conquest. We don’t need terrorists, we don’t need suicide bombers. The 50-plus million Muslims in Europe will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades.”

Apart from the problematic situation of the increasing number of Islamists who are trying to create an alliance of the Mediterranean Arab countries, another concern is the move towards a so-called “Eurabia,” a political neologism referring to the Muslim population in Europe which aspires to become the majority within a few generations.

The global risk is that the idea of Eurabia has “gained credibility since 9/11 in New York and the 3/11 bombings in Madrid, showing sympathy to Bin Laden’s terrorists and operating with relative freedom in Europe, wanting the destruction of Israel and the USA” wrote Niall Ferguson in the New York Times.

In other words, Eurabia is a move to evolve Europe into a post-Judeo-Christian civilization. However, religion and politics are intertwined in times of war as well as peace, and there are many who want to appease the radical fundamentalists. It is this that could cause the situation to explode.

Islam has fanatics who want to destroy its enemies; nevertheless we must also say that the majority of Muslims are good and gentle people who want to worship Allah in peace.

Paradoxically, the contrary is happening in Palestine. In 1900 its population was overwhelmingly Muslim, with 10 per cent Christian and 10 per cent Jewish. In 2000 Christians formed only a tiny part of its population, Jews formed the absolute majority, and the Muslim Palestinians had dwindled because of wars, casualties, loss of territory, and, chiefly, their exodus to more hospitable countries. Christians are also leaving the region, allowing for an easy victory for the Zionists.

The urgent solution to this problem, therefore, is the creation of two states which respect each other and recognize each other’s individual rights, and the preliminary move must be to resolve the question of the land to be apportioned to each state.

It is not fair that the occupied territories of Palestine remain the property of the invaders. They must be returned to the Arabs. Since 1948, and even earlier, when part of Palestine was allotted to Israel, the Palestinians have been squeezed into smaller and smaller areas of land.

According to the original United Nations partition plan of 1947, Palestine was given 45 per cent of the land, and Israel 55 per cent, but after the 1967 war, Israel took control of 78 per cent, leaving only 22 per cent for the Palestinians.

How will we ever realize the desiderata of Jesus: “ut omnes unum sint” (that all will be one)?