There are many wrong perceptions regarding the future of the Christian faith in Europe and in developing countries. The reason for this is that many incorrectly believe that whether Christianity survives or not depends solely on the number of practising believers in Western countries.

To understand why this is not so one can simply refer to the parable of the vineyard (Matthew 21: 33-46) where Christ made it clear to his followers that if they reject his teachings, the vineyard, that is the Church, will be given to those who will ‘produce fruit’.

This is what indeed happened when the Lord’s gospel, having been refused by his own people, was in turn proposed to the Gentiles, who gladly accepted it.

Jesus never tied the survival of his Church to any particular country or continent. Even here in Malta there is no guarantee whatsoever that the Church will still be around in the next few decades.

There will, of course, be pockets of Christians here and there, the ‘little flock’ that Christ had spoken about who will keep the faith flickering in the former Christian countries.

However, it is in the great continents of Africa and Asia that the future of Christianity lies. Here the faith, especially in the former, is happily embraced, even sometimes at the cost of great sacrifice.

One only has to remember the plight and testimony of persecuted Christians today and remember the words of Tertullian who, at the end of the second century, had prophesised that: “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” The wondrous growth of the Church in many developing countries is a witness to the truth of these words.