Cardinal Schönborn: ‘We must accept the decline of Europe’

Jonah McKeown

Letter from Rome

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, OP, archbishop of Vienna, said in a recent interview with a French Catholic magazine that in the face of rising secularisation and the growth of Islam in many historically Christian nations, Catholics should “trust in the work of grace” and remember that the Church is “an expert in humanity”.

“The Church is alive and will always be, albeit under different circumstances. We must accept the decline of Europe. We tend to gaze at our ecclesiastical navel, but it is an undeniable continental movement,” Cardinal Schönborn said, speaking to Famille Chrétienne.

“In 20 years, the European population will not be the same as it is today, and it is already not the same as it was 50 years ago. This is inevitable, above all due to the decline in the birth rate in Europe but also due to immigration and the increasing presence of Islam. This poses new challenges for us Christians. We must also not forget that the Lord is at work in his Church! Just think of the 12,000 baptisms of adults and young people in France this year.”

Influence

The Austrian cardinal, who helped to produce the Catechism of the Catholic Church, said that despite the decline of the Church’s influence in Europe, he is convinced that the Church “has not yet breathed its last”.

“Despite secularisation, the great questions of men and women remain the same as before: birth, growth, education, illness, economic worries. And then there is the family, marriage, and death,” Cardinal Schönborn noted. “There is a lot of talk about change, but too little attention is paid to the constants of society. The Church must remember that it is an expert in humanity, as Paul VI said.”

The cardinal called the idea that France and Europe are “no longer Christian” because of Islam’s influence “absurd”, but he firmly stressed that “Catholics should return to the Church”.

The Christians’ way of acting is not that of the Koran but the following of Christ in all dimensions of our lives”

“If Catholics have left the Church, we should not be surprised that they are in the minority,” he continued, calling for a “fraternal rapprochement” with Islam, echoing the words of Pope Francis, noting that Christians “do not take up arms but trust in the work of grace”.

“Both our religions have an absolute appeal. For Muslims, God has demanded that the whole world be subjected to him and the Koran. As for Christ, he has entrusted us with a universal mission: ‘Make disciples of all nations.’ Neither of them can therefore renounce their mission. But the Christians’ way of acting is not that of the Koran but the following of Christ in all dimensions of our lives,” he said.

Addressing the ongoing Synod on Synodality – the final session of which will take place in October in Rome and is expected to produce a final report for the Pope’s approval – Schönborn said “synodality is central to Francis’ pontificate, but there is continuity with previous synods, which have been about communion, participation, and mission”.

Disappointed

“You may be disappointed that the specific topics are a little up in the air, but this is first and foremost a synod about the ‘modus operandi’ within the Church,” Cardinal Schönborn said.

“In my diocese, I have experienced this synodality with the priests in small groups and tried to live it through spiritual conversation. Everyone agreed that the exchange had never been so deep.”

If friends say to me: ‘Our son has just announced to us that he is homosexual and that he has found a partner’, I then ask them: ‘Is he still your son?’”

Asked about Fiducia Supplicans, a document published by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith in December 2023 that authorised nonliturgical blessings for same-sex couples and others in “irregular situations”, Cardinal Schönborn said he believes the document shows “confusion” on the part of the Church. The cardinal had previously, in 2021, criticised the Vatican’s rejection of blessings for same-sex couples, saying the document was marked by a “clear communication error”.

“I experienced it as I experience things – concretely,” the cardinal said. “If friends say to me: ‘Our son has just announced to us that he is homosexual and that he has found a partner’, I then ask them: ‘Is he still your son?’ Most often, the answer comes naturally. I believe that with the two successive documents from Rome [the 2021 Responsum ad Dubium and Fiducia Supplicans], the Church has shown its own dismay in the face of this question. These texts, in my eyes, are shaky. We are faced with a question for which there can be no right answer.”

Discernment

“The path that Pope Francis proposes to us is that of discernment, trying to see what the Lord is showing us,” he continued. “Incidentally, the misfortune of the German [Synodal Way] is that they want sharp, unambiguous answers. And unambiguity does not work in concrete life.”

Asked about Pope Francis’ restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass by way of the 2021 document Traditionis Custodes, Cardinal Schönborn expressed the hope that the “new generation” might “easily” move from the TLM to modern movements and “prayer groups” such as the Emmanuel Community.

The Austrian prelate added: “Let us accept that Francis has his reasons for closing the doors again, at least partially, just as we have accepted that Benedict XVI had his reasons for opening them. Let us trust that the Lord is leading the Church.”

Schönborn was finally asked what “profile” the next Pope after Francis, who turns 88 in December, should have.

“On that day, the Holy Spirit will lead the Church. We should not worry. If it is an African, it will be an African. Maybe it will be an Asian or a man from old Europe. But the most important thing is that he believes that he is a servant of Christ and that he loves the Church. This is how the Church will move forward,” Cardinal Schönborn said.