In recent decades, North America and Western Europe have seen a dramatic increase in the number of immigrants from Islamic countries. The demographic impact of this Muslim population and some of the cultural norms often found in its midst—such as polygamy and Sharia courts—deserve to be considered with attention. These sensitive and complex issues call for prudential judgment in immigration policy. They can be approached from a number of legitimate perspectives by Catholic voters and politicians. But regardless of this political debate, we should remember that the Church has the duty to share the Faith with the Muslims who live in our communities, attend our schools and colleges, or become our coworkers and neighbors.
What seems strange, then, is that while the Church has speedily taken the lead to welcome migrants through initiatives such as housing facilities, medical care, legal support, and language classes, bishops across the West have been much slower in addressing the urgent task to preach the Gospel to non-Christian migrants. This is unfortunate, because while social circumstances change, Catholics should remember the transcendent nature of their daily mission. We are all called to articulate and witness the fullness of the truth about God—His incarnation, His love, and His presence in the sacraments—to all ages and all nations.
In the diocese of Ventimiglia, a sleepy corner of Northwest Italy, a courageous bishop recently issued an apostolic letter that gives a careful yet straightforward response to this question. Noting the growing number of Muslim immigrants in the territory that falls under his spiritual care, Bishop Antonio Suetta has written a short exhortation titled “There Is No Greater Love,” which aims to apply the principles found in Church documents like Vatican II’s Nostra Aetate and St. John Paul II’s Redemptoris Missio to these current circumstances.
His reflection begins, however, by recalling the example of St. Francis of Assisi, on the 800th anniversary of his death. Francis was not a sort of proto-hippy, but rather a holy man determined to save souls everywhere he went. This call brought him to cross enemy lines during the Fifth Crusade and visit in person the camp of Sultan Malik al-Kāmil. St. Francis left clear instructions to his followers with regard to their task of preaching Christ to all:
The Brethren who go, may conduct themselves in two ways among the infidels. The one is not to contend or dispute with them, but to be “subject to every human creature for God’s sake” yet confessing themselves to be Christians. The other way is, when they see it is pleasing to God, to preach the Divine Word, and teach men to believe in Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the Creator of all things, in Our Lord the Redeemer and Saviour, and that they should become Christians by being baptized.
Now that many people from the Islamic world come to our societies, the task of sharing the Gospel falls on all of us, not just on friars and other missionaries who have been sent abroad. In fact, in his letter Bishop Suetta reminds us that the single most precious gift we can give to Muslims moving to the West is the Catholic Faith. This is communicated in the first instance by our actions, our love for one another, which can move non-Christians to wonder whence come this charity, this brotherhood, this selfless friendship. Suetta argues that there should be three steps in our relations with Muslims: accoglienza (which in this context could be translated as hospitality), collaboration, and proclamation of the Gospel.
Collaboration is possible in areas where our secularized society rejects the transcendent nature of human beings, because both Muslims and Christians recognize the need to honor basic morality and the dignity of God’s creation. Here, the bishop makes a striking observation:
Muslims who arrive in Western countries are often baffled by the secularism of our societies, because they tend to identify—erroneously, but also understandably—public immorality with the Christian faith. Only when they get in touch with faithful Christians, these Muslims realize that secularism is a corruption of Christianity, and so they begin to see the true face of Jesus.
Hospitality and collaboration, however, are not enough. Suetta warns us that if we become lazy or lukewarm towards the duty to evangelize, Muslims who live among Christians could hold us accountable on the day of Judgement: Why have we not evangelized them?
In an age of religious indifferentism, these words from the bishop sound quite unfashionable, almost embarrassing. But interreligious dialogue cannot be reduced to an aimless exercise. When different paths to God contradict each other, either all of them are false or only one of them must be true. Anticipating the shallow objections of our times—Is it really necessary to witness Christ? Can’t Muslims be happy with their own religion?—the bishop reminds us of the duty of every baptized Christian. While it is true that a person who remains completely ignorant of Christ could still in exceptional circumstances obtain salvation, betraying our duty to evangelize would be akin to not throwing a rope to a person who is struggling against a strong river current, just because there is a very unlikely chance that they may pull themselves out.
Then, if we have a chance to share the Catholic Faith with a Muslim neighbor, where should we start from? Islam rejects the idea of a Son of God, but this error stems from a serious misunderstanding about the nature of Christ. Islamic texts rightly refute the polytheistic mythologies of sons conceived by pagan gods in time. However, Christ is generated eternally and spiritually as the Word. To this, I would add the great Islamic dilemma: the Quran states that the Torah and the Gospel were revealed by God, so much so that Christians should remain faithful to the teachings found therein (Sura 5), and yet, at the same time, the Quran contradicts key Christian teachings.
Much else could be said on these issues, but Bishop Suetta himself did not aim to produce any comprehensive guide to dialogue with Muslims. Rather, with his letter this Italian bishop simply wants to remind us of the urgency to share the Good News with all nations, including Muslim immigrants. Suetta is leading by example, organizing a series of encounters open to Muslims in his diocese, starting in this month of October. Will other bishops, priests, and lay Catholics follow him?
Photo by Gift Habeshaw on Unsplash
