Ah, but Allah stands ready to take the place of Jahwah, the God of the Jewish people and adopted by the Christians. First marry the burghers' daughters, and convert them, then bring in great numbers of your relatives, and establish a colony within these countries.
Europeans have abandoned their allegiance to Christianity in this post-modern world, considering it to be a shallow and uninteresting philosophy and unworthy of the attention of intelligent men. But the Muslims have not, and shall continue to make deep inroads on all things once considered European.
The socialism promoted by these same churches eliminates one of their important functions, serving those in need. With important function thus reduced it should be no surprise that they would be diminished. One would think that the these church leaders would realize that. Apparently not.
Horse gone bar door closing.
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor is part of the problem. The Catholic bishops in England and Ireland have, for the most part, done an even worse job than their American counterparts, and the rot is showing.
He needs to reform himself before he tries to reform his flock.
I think what has got to happen in many parts of Europe and the USA/Canada is a change in the mindset of people about how the Church is structured. In many places, the long-standing structure of the parish church and the parish priest residence that serves a precisely-drawn-out geographical area is over. What needs to take its place is the creation of lay movements that are largely self-initiated and self-governing, but there is a priest who serves as a spritual guide. Thus the priest is no longer a Chief Operating Officer of a Corporation, but a Holy Man for Others.
Christianity and Socialism is an oxymoron - the latter believes in the supremacy over God. These poor Europeans never learn. The problem is that we here in the US are ignorant also in our move toward Socialism.