Italian Bishop Tells Catholics To Evangelise Muslims

A Catholic bishop in northern Italy has called on Christians to actively evangelise Muslims living in Europe, warning that believers must not “hide” their faith in the face of rising migration and secularisation.

In a pastoral letter issued on the feast of Pentecost, Bishop Antonio Suetta of Ventimiglia-San Remo argued that welcoming Muslim migrants should go hand-in-hand with openly proclaiming Christianity, insisting that salvation comes only through Jesus Christ.

The letter, titled There Is No Greater Love Than This, was issued ahead of a new diocesan initiative aimed specifically at outreach to Muslims living in the region near the French border, an area heavily affected by immigration in recent years.

Drawing inspiration from St. Francis of Assisi’s famous meeting with the Sultan during the Crusades, Suetta said Christians should approach Muslims with “charity” and “respect,” but without abandoning missionary zeal or diluting Catholic teaching.

The bishop repeatedly stressed that Christians have a duty to convert non-Christians, including Muslims now living in Europe. While acknowledging that Muslims worship “one God” and share some moral values with Christians, he argued that Islam and Christianity ultimately present radically different understandings of God.

“For Christians, God is our Father and, in His essence, is Love,” Suetta wrote, contrasting this with what he described as the Islamic understanding of a more distant God to whom man must submit.

He also warned against what he described as the moral collapse of secular Western society, saying many Muslim migrants wrongly associate modern immorality with Christianity itself.

“Only when they come into contact with Christians who are coherent with their faith do they realise that secularisation is a corruption of Christianity,” the bishop wrote.

Suetta insisted that merely coexisting peacefully with Muslims was not enough, because Catholics have a responsibility to share what they believe to be the truth of the Gospel.

In one of the letter’s strongest passages, he compared evangelisation to throwing a rope to someone drowning in a river.

“If we see someone being swept away by the current and we possess a rope to help him, it would be grave negligence not to throw it,” he wrote.

The bishop also argued that avoiding evangelisation out of fear of offending others would amount to betraying the mission of Christianity itself.

At the same time, he stressed that conversion efforts must never involve coercion. Evangelisation, he said, should be carried out “with gentleness and respect,” through dialogue, charity, prayer, and personal witness.

The Diocese of Ventimiglia-San Remo announced that from the 2026-2027 pastoral year it will launch training programmes and meetings aimed at helping Catholics better understand Islam while also strengthening confidence in their own faith.

Suetta concluded by calling evangelisation “the highest and most beautiful act of charity,” urging Catholics to take seriously Christ’s command to “make disciples of all nations.”