Europe's churches and synagogues abandoned or up for sale; many becoming mosques

by Gregory Tomlin, |
REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

PARIS (Christian Examiner) – An Italian journalist is highlighting the declining influence of Europe's churches and synagogues in a concrete fashion – by illustrating how vacant churches and poorly-attended synagogues are falling into the hands of Muslims and others who want to use the spaces for anything but worship.

Giulio Meotti, the culutural editor for Il Foglio, writes for the Gatestone Institute that few have grasped how systemic the collapse of Europe's Christianity (and Judaism) has been in the past 30 years, primarily because of the abandonment of the churches and unrestrained immigration from North Africa and the Middle East. Churches not turned into mosques also are used for other developments. Some have been converted to grocery stores, private homes, apartments or luxury restaurants.

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