With the immigration debate raging in this country — and the Church adding her voice to the chorus — it’s interesting to look at Italy, a predominantly Catholic country where immigration is also a concern. There is a concerted effort in the Catholic Church to look after the foreigner.

But things are a little different.

From the Los Angeles Times:

Visually speaking, the John Paul II Canteen is more IKEA cafe than soup kitchen. Tucked away in a pleasant hillside neighborhood in Rome, it has clean lines, attractive furniture, track lighting and framed photographs, making it a welcome oasis for the immigrants who stream in daily from shelters, homeless camps and overcrowded apartments.

Strolling down the cafeteria line on a recent day, canteen coordinator Maurizio deStefano boasted about the quality of the free food, which today included farfalle pasta and meatballs, spinach, boiled eggs, cheese, bread and apples.

“The thing is,” he said, “there are so many Muslims that the menu often doesn’t have pork on it.”

That may be sacrilege in some Italian culinary circles — no prosciutto? no spaghetti alla carbonara? — but it’s hardly unexpected, considering Muslims are the largest group of immigrants in Italy. Still, as the name suggests, the John Paul II Canteen is run by Roman Catholics, not Muslims. Therein lies an interesting dynamic.

In Europe, as in the United States, the Roman Catholic Church has assumed a leading role as a protector of, and advocate for, immigrants. But whereas the largest bloc of migrants to the United States are Catholic, the majority of European immigrants are Muslim.

Check out the rest.