Radical Islam: A threat to modern Europe

Throughout history, humanity has been on the move from one part of the world to another, mostly, for its existence and development. This phenomenon leads, from time to time, to a change in the nature and composition of the population in a given land. Europe today is a case in point .

According to a recent study , the number of Muslim migrants, from different parts of the world, has been increasing fast in the continent. In France today , for each practising Muslim, there are three practising Catholics in the country. This is going to change. Over 65% of practising Catholics are around 50 years old. Over 73% of practising Muslims are under the age of 50.

There are 2,400 mosques in France. It stood at 1,500 in 2003. Over 5000 churches may be demolished in the country by 2030. In Saint- Chamond the town hall has recently ordered the disposal of the main church of the city, Notre-Dame. Built in the 19th century, the church has been closed for worship since 2004.

In Germany, ten years ago there was an average of 800 baptisms per day. Last year , it came down to an average of 390 . Within thirty years, there will be over 17 million Muslims in Germany, compared to 22 million Christians . Catholic churches in Germany are being abandoned . The Ruhr diocese wants to keep only 84 churches . Mainz and Hildesheim want to halve their churches. Aachen has started a process of reducing buildings by 30 percent. The archdiocese of Berlin has also decided to reduce the number of churches by a quarter.

In Spain, there were over 1334 mosques in 2015 . They constituted 21% of the total number of all places of worship in the country. The number of mosques is growing at a rate of 20 per cent each year in the country. By 2030, the Muslim population in the country will increase by 82 per cent. The churches are empty in Austria. By 2046, one in five Austrians will be professing Islam. In Vienna, one in three Viennese will be Muslim.

Observers say that, regrettably, the growing Muslim population in Europe is leading to radical Islamisation of society in the continent. This poses a threat to contemporary Europe and its cherished values . Christianity has so far been the dominant religion in the continent. Over the centuries, it had reformed itself to embrace scientific temperament and secularism in the interest of the larger humanity.

(Jagdish N. Singh is a senior journalist based in New Delhi. He is also Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, New York)

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