More than half of voters in four other major European states back a push by France’s Nicolas Sarkozy to ban women from wearing the burka, according to an opinion poll for the Financial Times last March.
But Cardinal Angelo Scola, the Roman Catholic Patriarch of Venice, would like to see another approach. His Oasis Foundation has been working with Christians and Muslims in the Middle East since 2004. His extensive contacts in the region have led to some ideas he thinks could be relevant for Europe.