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By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
New York

Amid tensions generated by Europe’s rising Muslim presence, it’s increasingly common for the continent’s Christian roots to be invoked as a means of preventing its transformation into what critics deride as “Eurabia,” meaning an outpost of Islamic civilization.

In the Italian diocese of Padua, on the other land, local Catholic leaders are appealing to the same Christian identity to make a very different case – for welcoming the growing Muslim community, including defending its right to construct a mosque.