Georg Gänswein, the urbane Private Secretary of Pope Benedict XVI
"Attempts to Islamise the west cannot be denied," Monsignor Georg Gaenswein was quoted as saying in a copy of the weekly Sueddeutsche Magazine published today.
"The danger for the identity of Europe that is connected with it should not be ignored out of a wrongly understood respectfulness," the magazine quoted him as saying.
Gaenswein also defended a speech Pope Benedict gave in Regensburg, Germany, last year linking Islam and violence, saying it was an attempt by the Pontiff to "act against a certain naivety."
In the interview with the respected German weekly, Gaenswein confirmed that the Pope wrote his own speeches and that the remarks had not been edited.
He said: "I believe that the speech from Regensburg, as it was held, is prophetic."
Asked if the idea of a serious dialogue with Islam that exists in the real world was naive, given that it was a religion where human rights were trampled under foot, he said: "Attempts to Islamize the West cannot be denied.
"The danger for the identity of Europe that is connected with it should not be ignored out of a wrongly understood respectfulness. Vatican warns of Islamisation of Europe (more) By Emma Bamford
Mark Alexander
