Catholic cardinal: Muslims do not respect weak Christianity
Cardinal Gerhard Müller has warned of the profound decline of the Christian West and the growing influence of Islam. The former prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith spoke at the 2026 Tavole di Assisi conference, where he warned of an unprecedented identity crisis in formerly Christian countries, the Catholic Herald reports.
“The Christian West is no longer merely threatened by external forces, but is being eroded by an internal apostasy,” the German cardinal said. “We are witnessing the triumph of post-humanism: a nihilistic ideology that, in its attempt to emancipate humanity from God, ends up destroying humanity itself, reducing it to manipulable matter, to an algorithm among algorithms, and depriving it of its dignity as the image and likeness of the Creator.”
According to the cardinal, Muslim communities are expanding their presence in Europe as the West abandons its former values. Unlike the secularized West, Islam is not ashamed of God and offers a radically different anthropology.
Cardinal Müller centered his address on the mission of St. Francis of Assisi, who during the Fifth Crusade went to Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil in an effort to convert the Muslim ruler to Christianity.
“The saint met with the sultan not to open a diplomatic salon or strengthen the sultan’s faith, but out of love for souls and an unwavering conviction that Jesus Christ is the only Savior of humanity.”
Müller stressed that attempts at evangelization are ineffective when Christians conceal their own identity.
“Muslims do not respect a weak Christianity that is ashamed of the Cross and reduces itself to a charitable organization or an advocate for the environment,” Müller said. “They respect those who believe. St. Francis showed respect for the sultan precisely because he spoke to him with the gift of the Holy Spirit, offering his life as a testimony.”
The cardinal pointed to what he described as the loss of reason and faith in the West, as well as the spread of nihilism and transgender ideology. Amid this spiritual vacuum, he said, Islam begins to appear to people as a solid rock. Müller said the only solution for the West is to proclaim the social kingship of Christ and return to missionary work.
As the UOJ previously reported, Cardinal Gerhard Müller called the blessing of same-sex unions “blasphemy.”
