(Bishops attend a mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI marking the opening of the Synod of bishops in St. Peter’s square at the Vatican October 7, 2012. REUTERS/Tony Gentile)
A drive to rekindle Roman Catholicism’s missionary zeal is struggling to counter the challenge of Islam, a religion with an arguably more direct message and a greater institutional hold on its faithful.
Bishops who have been meeting for three weeks to plot a way forward for a Church whose membership is dwindling in Europe are concerned by Islam’s growth and worried about Christian minorities in Muslim countries, according to participants’ comments released by the Vatican.
Islam was barely mentioned in preparatory documents for the Synod on New Evangelisation, a meeting in Rome of 262 prelates from around the world been held behind closed doors.
But one participant said it had become the “buzzword” of the synod that ends this weekend.
