Islam versus Europe

Islamic mosques are being built more often in France than Roman Catholic churches, and there now are more practising Muslims in the country than practising Catholics.

The total number of mosques in France has already doubled to more than 2,000 during just the past ten years, according to a research report ‘Constructing Mosques: The Governance of Islam in France and the Netherlands’.

By contrast, the Roman Catholic Church in France has built only 20 new churches during the past decade, and has formally closed more than 60 churches, many of which are destined to become mosques, according to research conducted by La Croix, a Roman Catholic daily newspaper based in Paris.

Although 64% of the French population (or 41·6 million of France’s 65 million inhabitants) identifies itself as Roman Catholic, only 4·5% (or 1·9 million) of those actually are practising Catholics, according to the French Institute of Public Opinion (or Ifop, as it is usually called).

By way of comparison, 75% (or 4·5 million) of the estimated 6 million mostly ethnic North African and sub-Saharan Muslims in France identify themselves as ‘believers’ and 41% (or 2·5 million) say they are ‘practising’ Muslims, according to an in-depth research report on Islam in France published by Ifop on August 1.

Taken together, the research data provides empirical evidence that Islam is well on its way to overtaking Roman Catholicism as the dominant religion in France.

As their numbers grow, Muslims in France are becoming far more assertive than ever before. A case in point: Muslim groups in France are now asking the Roman Catholic Church for permission to use its empty churches as a way to solve the traffic problems caused by thousands of Muslims who pray in the streets.—Hudson New York