The largest immigrant bloc in Europe is Muslim, and one of its biggest defenders is the Roman Catholic Church. The church doesn't face the accusations of self-interest that it does in the U.S.
By Mitchell Landsberg, Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Rome —
Visually speaking, the John Paul II Canteen is more IKEA cafe than soup kitchen. Tucked away in a pleasant hillside neighborhood in Rome, it has clean lines, attractive furniture, track lighting and framed photographs, making it a welcome oasis for the immigrants who stream in daily from shelters, homeless camps and overcrowded apartments.Strolling down the cafeteria line on a recent day, canteen coordinator Maurizio deStefano boasted about the quality of the free food, which today included farfalle pasta and meatballs, spinach, boiled eggs, cheese, bread and apples.
"The thing is," he said, "there are so many Muslims that the menu often doesn't have pork on it".
That may be sacrilege in some Italian culinary circles — no prosciutto? no spaghetti alla carbonara? — but it's hardly unexpected, considering Muslims are the largest group of immigrants in Italy. Still, as the name suggests, the John Paul II Canteen is run by Roman Catholics, not Muslims. Therein lies an interesting dynamic.
In Europe, as in the United States, the Roman Catholic Church has assumed a leading role as a protector of, and advocate for, immigrants. But whereas the largest bloc of migrants to the United States are Catholic, the majority of European immigrants are Muslim.
In the United States, some critics of the church accuse outspoken clerics such as Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles of self-interest when they support immigrant rights and immigration reform. There is logic to the argument because Latin American Catholics are pumping new life into a church that has been losing its hold on many native-born Americans.
Los Angeles Times
