The ultimate goal of Islam is world conquest and the “supine” West is only helping it achieve that aim, a senior cardinal has said.

Speaking in an interview with Italian newspaper Il Giornale, Cardinal Raymond Burke accused Westerners of being too weak to acknowledge the incompatibility of Christianity and Islam.

“It is clear that Muslims have as their ultimate goal conquest and power over the world,” the American cardinal said. “Islam, through sharia, their law, will rule the world and permit violence against infidels, such as Christians. But we find it hard to recognise this reality and to respond by defending the Christian faith.”

“Many people do not understand what Islam really is,” he added. “They create these slogans: we all believe in the same God, we are all united by love and so on. It’s not true.”

He also said that modern Christians are often unwilling to proclaim their beliefs, and should not be afraid to convert people of other faiths.

“Christians have neglected a fundamental truth: there is only one Saviour of the world: Jesus Christ. We must not proselytize, imposing Christianity, but if we believe in Jesus it is our duty to bear witness.

“I think that this witness is not very strong, even in countries that were called Christian once upon a time, such as the European nations.”

Cardinal Burke, who is regarded as a leading traditionalist within the Catholic Church, went on to say that Islam poses a threat to the Western order because it makes no distinction between religion and the state.

“Islam is a threat in the sense that for the true Muslim, Allah must rule the world. Christ said in the Gospel: ‘Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s’. By contrast, the Islamic religion which is based on the law of the Koran aims to govern all countries where there are Muslims.

“While they are the minority they cannot insist, but when they become the majority they must apply the Sharia.”

We can already see this in some Muslim-majority neighbourhoods, the cardinal added.

“Today there are enclaves, entire neighbourhoods, in Europe where there is in fact Muslim rule.”

Speaking about so-called “no-go zones” such as Molenbeek, Cardinal Burke said that the existence of such neighbourhoods represented a failure of integration, calling them “a state within a state”.

“The problem is that Muslims aim for expansion,” he added. “The whole history of the Islamic presence in Europe is an attempt to conquer it.”

Rather than through arms, that expansion will come through immigration and high birth rate.

“Several times I have heard Islamists explaining: ‘What we failed to do with weapons in the past, we are doing today with birth rate and immigration.’ The population is changing. If this keeps up, in countries like Italy, the majority will be Muslim.”

However, the blame for all this lies squarely on the decline of Western society.

“All this happens through the corruption of the West. There are not enough families. We supinely accept practices that are contrary to the natural law, such as abortion or so-called “marriage” between persons of the same sex. It is proof that we are not strong enough in faith, and easy prey for conquest.”