Cardinal Camillo Ruini offered data on immigration in his country when addressing a congress organized by the Mariapolis Center of Castel Gandolfo.
«Just over 30% are Muslim who, together with the other non-Christians, coming especially from the Asian East, constitute almost half the foreign presence, that is, a total that could reach 1.2 million,» the cardinal added.
This reality represents an «unheard-of chapter» for the work of evangelization of the Church in Italy, the cardinal said.
At the same time, he appealed to Italian Catholics to reject «any intention or method of proselytizing: One must go out to meet people, all people, with confidence and the hope that through this encounter Christ will be able to reveal his face.»
