Cardinal Vlk warns of ‘Islamization’ of Europe, calls for return to Christianity

Prague, Czech Republic, Jan 6, 2010 / 11:04 pm MT (CNA).-

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.