A cardinal says the Church is "not a Church that is there to convert." Italy's bishops hand Catholic religion teachers fact sheets on Islam co-written with Muslim scholars, including one titled "The Qur'an: Revealed Word of God." So why won't our shepherds say plainly that Muslims, too, need Christ?

Eric Sammons looks at Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco's doubling down and the persecution-law context of Algeria, the CEI/PISAI Islam fact sheets, Cardinal Robert Sarah's warning ("Wake up. Islam is a danger."), and Abdul El-Sayed's comparison of sharia to Catholic canon law. Eric also tells his own story: how the USCCB's interreligious office reviewed a Catholic high school textbook and warned that its treatment of Islam "smacks of proselytism, which would really offend the Muslims." Finally, what the Church actually teaches in Nostra Aetate, the Catechism, and Dominus Iesus: esteem for Muslims and the duty to proclaim "the necessity of conversion to Jesus Christ" are not opposites.

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Referenced:
• LifeSiteNews, Cardinal Vesco doubles down: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/cardinal-doubles-down-after-saying-church-should-not-convert-people/
• CathoBel on Vesco and Bishop Barron: https://www.cathobel.be/2026/10/leveque-robert-barron-reproche-au-cardinal-vesco-de-ne-pas-vouloir-convertir-sur-la-base-dune-interview-de-cathobel-or-les-propos-du-cardinal-ont-ete-sortis-de-leur-contexte/
• CEI/UNEDI, Outlines for Learning about Islam: https://unedi.chiesacattolica.it/2026/10/05/outlines-for-learning-about-islam/
• LifeSiteNews, Italian bishops and the Koran: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/italys-catholic-bishops-promote-koran-as-revealed-word-of-god-in-schools/
• PJ Media, Cardinal Sarah's warning: https://pjmedia.com/robert-spencer/2026/04/11/a-roman-catholic-cardinals-sobering-warning-n4951700
• Fox News, El-Sayed on sharia and canon law: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/el-sayed-defense-sharia-law-stance-sparks-online-eruption-christians-conservatives-hes-done
• Midwest Theological Forum, Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue: https://theologicalforum.org/books/ecumenism-and-interreligious-dialogue-semester-edition/
• Nostra Aetate: https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651028_nostra-aetate_en.html
• Catechism 841: https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P29.HTM
• Dominus Iesus: https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000806_dominus-iesus_en.html
• Regensburg Address: https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2006/september/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060912_university-regensburg.html

Thumbnail photo credits:
• Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco: Agenzia Fides, CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), via Wikimedia Commons
• Cardinal Robert Sarah: François-Régis Salefran, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), via Wikimedia Commons

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