Europe should accept its decline, says senior Catholic cleric

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – We should accept the decline of Europe, said the senior Catholic cleric in Austria, the Catholic News Agency reported on Tuesday.

In 20 years, the European population will not be the same as it is today, and it is already not the same as it was 50 years ago, Christoph Schonborn, archbishop of Vienna, told Famille Chretienne (Christian Family), a French Christian magazine, in an interview.

This is inevitable, above all due to the decline in the birth rate in Europe but also due to immigration and the growth of Islam, he added.

According to Schonborn, the Catholic Church remains relevant despite the decline of its influence in Europe.

“Despite secularization, the great questions of men and women remain the same as before: birth, growth, education, illness, economic worries. And then there is the family, marriage, and death,” he said.

However, he suggested that the church should follow the trends and changes in societies and act accordingly.

Echoing Pope Francis, Schonborn also called for “fraternal rapprochement” with Islam, a fast-growing religion on the continent.