Cardinal Schönborn: ‘We must accept the decline of Europe’

Michie · Sep 10, 2024

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, OP, archbishop of Vienna, said in a recent interview with a French Catholic magazine that in the face of rising secularization and the growth of Islam in many historically Christian nations, Catholics should “trust in the work of grace” and remember that the Church is “an expert in humanity.”

“The Church is alive and will always be, albeit under different circumstances. We must accept the decline of Europe. We tend to gaze at our ecclesiastical navel, but it is an undeniable continental movement,” Schönborn said, speaking to Famille Chrétienne.

“In 20 years, the European population will not be the same as it is today, and it is already not the same as it was 50 years ago. This is inevitable, above all due to the decline in the birth rate in Europe but also due to immigration and the increasing presence of Islam. This poses new challenges for us Christians. We must also not forget that the Lord is at work in his Church! Just think of the 12,000 baptisms of adults and young people in France this year.”

Continued below.

Cardinal Schönborn: ‘We must accept the decline of Europe’

The Austrian cardinal said that despite the decline of the Church’s influence in Europe, he is convinced that the Church “has not yet breathed its last.”

www.catholicnewsagency.com

RileyG · Sep 10, 2024

Pray. Hope. Don’t worry.

It’s all we can do.

Bob Crowley · Sep 10, 2024

My prophetic Presbyterian pastor (ex-Methodist and Uniting Church so he wasn't hardline Calvinist) thought that Europe would go Moslem. It would be more political than religious eg. needing energy from Middle Eastern oil.

He thought the Vatican would be forced to move to South America (where the Spanish and Portuguese set up Catholicism centuries ago). I assume it would most likely be to Braziil and maybe Rio de Janeiro.

Russia would hold on to her Orthodox faith which they are doing now and the Brits would go Catholic. Of all the protestant churches, the Anglican Church is most similar to the Catholic Church in form and liturgy.

Both Russia and Britain are nuclear armed and I think they'd use them if they had to. I don't know what would happen to France's nuclear stockpile.

That's what he thought before he died in 1992. Things seem to be moving that way.

I can't see NATO surviving if most of Europe does go Moslem.

It all remains to be seen of course.

Wolseley · Sep 10, 2024

Pope John Paul II said he believed the future of the Catholic Church would be in Africa. Considering the strength of the Church there ( 99.999% of the dioceses and bishops in Africa rejected "Fiducia supplicans" outright, while those in Europe and America yawned and rolled over) I suspect he was probably right.

RileyG · Sep 10, 2024

Bob Crowley said:
My prophetic Presbyterian pastor (ex-Methodist and Uniting Church so he wasn't hardline Calvinist) thought that Europe would go Moslem. It would be more political than religious eg. needing energy from Middle Eastern oil.

He thought the Vatican would be forced to move to South America (where the Spanish and Portuguese set up Catholicism centuries ago). I assume it would most likely be to Braziil and maybe Rio de Janeiro.

Russia would hold on to her Orthodox faith which they are doing now and the Brits would go Catholic. Of all the protestant churches, the Anglican Church is most similar to the Catholic Church in form and liturgy.

Both Russia and Britain are nuclear armed and I think they'd use them if they had to. I don't know what would happen to France's nuclear stockpile.

That's what he thought before he died in 1992. Things seem to be moving that way.

I can't see NATO surviving if most of Europe does go Moslem.

It all remains to be seen of course.

As our lady of Fatima told the 3 shepherd children “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph”

RileyG · Sep 10, 2024

Wolseley said:
Pope John Paul II said he believed the future of the Catholic Church would be in Africa. Considering the strength of the Church there ( 99.999% of the dioceses and bishops in Africa rejected "Fiducia supplicans" outright, while those in Europe and America yawned and rolled over) I suspect he was probably right.

He was very, very right.

Ora pro nobis

joymercy · Sep 10, 2024

@Wolseley @RileyG @AlexB23 @Bob Crowley @chevyontheriver @Solo81 @Michie and every one, this short video is beautiful and will make you cry with joy!

Yes, it is Africa. Hail Mary full of Grace!

Sword of the Lord · Sep 10, 2024

Bob Crowley said:
My prophetic Presbyterian pastor (ex-Methodist and Uniting Church so he wasn't hardline Calvinist) thought that Europe would go Moslem. It would be more political than religious eg. needing energy from Middle Eastern oil.

He thought the Vatican would be forced to move to South America (where the Spanish and Portuguese set up Catholicism centuries ago). I assume it would most likely be to Braziil and maybe Rio de Janeiro.

Russia would hold on to her Orthodox faith which they are doing now and the Brits would go Catholic. Of all the protestant churches, the Anglican Church is most similar to the Catholic Church in form and liturgy.

Both Russia and Britain are nuclear armed and I think they'd use them if they had to. I don't know what would happen to France's nuclear stockpile.

That's what he thought before he died in 1992. Things seem to be moving that way.

I can't see NATO surviving if most of Europe does go Moslem.

It all remains to be seen of course.

I'm not hating, and I find it humourous, but I always know when I see you there's a 99% chance you will mention your old Presbyterian pastor at some point lol

RileyG · Sep 10, 2024

Sword of the Lord said:
I'm not hating, and I find it humourous, but I always know when I see you there's a 99% chance you will mention your old Presbyterian pastor at some point lol

It's an interesting point, if anything.

I remember (I think it was a Catholic convert layman?) who said he knew an Anglican priest who could see the dead. One night, a mutual friend of theirs dies and he apparently wasn't so faithful. They offered a requiem service or prayers for via the Anglican tradition (no mention of purgatory). Unfortunately, the same Anglican priest later left the priesthood and lived with his boyfriend, and according to the author "lived a life of sin."

I think there are a lot of people who have spiritual gifts....even those who aren't so holy.

Who knows?

Bob Crowley · Sep 11, 2024

Sword of the Lord said:
I'm not hating, and I find it humourous, but I always know when I see you there's a 99% chance you will mention your old Presbyterian pastor at some point lol

He left a strong impression on me.

The night my father died when I was still an atheist he said "You'll become a Christian" and "You'll meet a pastor. You'll think he's great but all he'll do is to discourage you even more."

The pastor he was referring to was the Presbyterian pastor whom I met nearly four years later.

About nine years after that as I was about to leave his church he said he owed me an apology.

I asked him why. He replied "You needed encouragement but all I've done is to discourage you even more!"

He'd quoted my deceased father back to me word for word about himself. When I pointed that out, he blurted "You really did see your father that night!!"

But I learnt a lot from him and he was prophetic. I found if he thought something was going to happen it did sooner or later. I'm still waiting on a couple of things, but a number of them have already happened.

Obviously God thought he was going to be important enough to show my father who had just died on the night of 11 January 1979 that I would meet him down the track, late in 1982 as it happened.

My father never met the pastor but he was being shown me meeting the pastor a few years down the track and said so. He didn't say that about anybody else, although he did indicate another pastor would cause me trouble.

I hold the pastor in high respect even if he tended to be discouraging. He said "I tend to discourage people. I don't mean to but I do."

I think part of the problem for him was that he could see problems people would make for themselves in years to come.

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Cardinal Schönborn: ‘We must accept the decline of Europe’

Michie

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