Catholic World News News Feature

Swiss bishop: Christian weakness fuels fears of Islam September 04, 2006

Bishop Kurt Koch of Basel, Switzerland, has said that Europeans should be worried less by the strength of Islam than by the weakness of Christian culture.

Bishop Koch was commenting on a dispute that has arisen over opposition to the construction of tall minarets on mosques. He argued that the minaret in itself should not be a major concern, comparing it to the steeple of a Christian church. The more relevant concern, he said, is the freedom of believers to worship. He pointed out that in many Islamic countries, Christians are deprived of that right.

In Europe, Bishop Koch said, concerns about the growth of Islam have been intensified because of Europe's own loss of cultural identity. "If we were to go back to our roots and stand by our own convictions, we could approach other faiths more openly," he said.

"The problem is not really the strength of Islam, but the weakness of Christianity," the bishop concluded.