On August 23, 2025, La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana published an interview with Bishop Athanasius Schneider in which the Auxiliary Bishop of Astana (Kazakhstan) does not hesitate to see “it is an invasion of the mass Islamization of Europe.” [The Rorate Caeli blog has provided an English translation.]
The prelate, who lives in a Muslim-majority country, answered questions from Lorenza Formicola and states bluntly: “We simply need to open our eyes and face reality. Over the past decade, some Western European countries, particularly Germany and the United Kingdom, have favored a disproportionate inflow of people from Muslim-majority countries, primarily classified as refugees.”
“This process can be described as a sort of resettlement of Muslim-majority citizens in Christian European countries, a process orchestrated by senior European political authorities in collaboration with several international and supranational organizations. Indeed, EU central authorities have publicly admonished those European countries (such as Hungary and Poland) which have enforced restrictions on the admission of immigrants from Muslim-majority countries.”
To the question, “Do you thus believe the current migration phenomenon is the result of a larger plan by a political elite with a global agenda?”, Bishop Schneider replied, “This is confirmed by concrete political facts. Under the guise of integration, Islamic religious practices are being introduced into schools and public life, such as halal food, public dinners to break the fast during the month of Ramadan, and advertising and festive Ramadan lights in Christian-majority cities.”
He added that, demographically, “In many traditionally Christian countries, the Islamic factor is destined, very soon, to prevail numerically. Muslim families are, on average, more prolific than their European counterparts and characterized by polygamy (permitted by their religion), which fosters rapid and continual population growth.”
The Italian journalist asks: “When entire regions of Africa and the Middle East are deprived of resources, energy, and young talent, can promoting immigration really be a solution?”
The prelate replies: “It is simply a huge mistake. European governments ought to invest in humanitarian and economic projects that would allow refugees and immigrants to remain in their countries by improving their living conditions and thus contributing to the prosperity and progress of their homeland. The current immigration, driven by ideological and political ends, uproots people, deprives nations of their strength, and pushes them towards impoverishment and underdevelopment.”
Then comes the question of the Church’s role in the face of this mass immigration: “Why does the Church in the West appear so cautious in denouncing the Islamist threat?” Bishop Schneider doesn’t shy away from the question: “I believe that many representatives of the Church today are motivated by political correctness.”
“Interreligious dialogue is an ambiguous procedure. It calls for a harmony linking religions that does not exist in their doctrines and morality, and frequently not even in their practice. Moreover, the assertions of the Quran and Sharia, which clearly discriminate against non-Muslims, are never referred to. This type of dialogue lacks sincerity: the problem of politicized Islam and the growing persecution of Christians, especially in Islamic countries or by Islamist extremist groups, is usually not challenged.”
The next question, “Why does Catholicism remain the most persecuted religion?”, leads the prelate to offer a profession of faith without prevarication: “The reason is simple: it is the only true religion, the one willed by God here on earth. It is the only religion that possesses the fullness of Truth and the fullness of all the means of Divine Grace and salvation.”
“Catholicism has always been the target of attacks by the political and ideological forces which reject Jesus Christ as the Truth, the Way, and the true Life—that is, as the only Savior and Teacher of humanity. The reason lies in the fact that people prefer to institute their own truth so they can do as they want. The persecution of the Catholic religion in the end boils down to the motto: ‘We do not want Christ to reign over us.’ However, one thing is sure: there is no way of life without Christ.”
And he emphasized the responsibility of the clergy: “Faced with the mass immigration of non-Christians, the shepherds of the Church, once more, have the opportunity and the sacred duty of carrying out – with no sense of an inferiority complex but with zeal – Christ’s Divine commandment, which consists in making all peoples His disciples through the True Faith and Baptism and teaching them to live according to God’s revealed commandments. Precisely according to the Gospel.”
“The entire Church should once again make the words of the holy Apostle Paul its own and say: ‘I am not ashamed of the Gospel’ (Rom. 1:16), and: ‘Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!’ (1 Cor. 9:16). Indeed, failing to preach Christ to non-Christians is a grave omission in loving one’s neighbor, because it deprives them of the greatest happiness here on earth: knowing and loving Christ as their Teacher, Lord, and Savior.”
Hence, the missionary role of the Church: “True interreligious dialogue occurs in everyday life. It involves neighbors and families, and is open to those in the Islamic faith who sincerely seek the truth. To them, the message of Christ, the only Savior and Teacher of humanity, must be proposed, with love and without imposition. This is the essential mission of the Church: to bring Christ to all men.”