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ITALY

Muslim immigration
Cardinal Says Christians should be given preference

Cardinal Giacomo Biffi of Bologna has issued a public statement recommending that Italy give preference to Christian immigrants over Muslims in order to avoid a profound change in European culture.

At a September 14 press conference, Cardinal Biffi—who has developed a reputation for blunt speech—told reporters that he had recently made his recommendations to the Italian government minister charged with immigration policy.

“There is no such thing as a right to invasion,” the controversial prelate stated. “There is nothing to stop the Italian government from controlling immigration in a manner that would safeguard our national identity.”

Toward that end, the cardinal said, he had told the government minister that “a truly lay government, in order to spare the Italian people a lot of suffering, would take the opportunity to regulate immigration in a way that would give preference to Catholics, to Latin Americans, Filipinos, and Eritreans.”

Cardinal Biffi explained that the threat to Italian culture would extend beyond strictly religious affairs, insofar as Muslims have “a different diet, different holy days, an approach to family rights that is incompatible with our own, and an attitude toward women much more restrictive than ours, to the point of allowing and practicing polygamy.”

“They also have a rigorous plan for uniting public and religious life, so much so that the complete identification of church and state is a part of their faith, which they do not allow to be questioned,” the cardinal continued. He conceded that Muslims in Europe have not attempted to impose Islamic law, but observed that “they are usually prudent enough to wait until they are in a position of power” before making such an effort.

Cardinal Biffi said that Europe today is becoming a “culture of nothing,” which takes pride in skepticism and sees the destruction of noble ideas as “a sort of intellectual conquest.” Such a culture has no future, he warned. “The ‘culture of nothing’ will not be able to resist the ideological assault of Islam.”

Milan Cardinal on collegiality
Suggests regular meetings of bishops

Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini of Milan has revived a longstanding debate on the subject of episcopal collegiality by suggesting regular meetings at which bishops discuss “the most urgent questions” facing the Church.

In an interview published by the Jesuit monthly Jesu, Cardinal Martini explained that he was not calling for a new general council of the Church. Instead, he recommended a series of meetings “in which the diversity of experiences, of situations, and of languages present in the Church today can be confronted.”

The meetings suggested by the Milan prelate seemed similar to the synods which have been organized to bring together geographical groupings of bishops. But Cardinal Martini argued that synods, which only last about one month, do not allow enough time for thorough discussion, and “it is difficult to reach common conclusions on delicate and disputed questions” within that time frame.

Among the urgent topics that could be discussed at such meetings, Cardinal Martini listed the need for diversity in liturgy and pastoral approaches, the shortage of priests, and the quest for ecumenical progress.