Pope Francis launches dialogue by word and action in Morocco

Arid countries often regard rain as a sign of blessing and fruitfulness, so the downpour that greeted Pope Francis’ arrival in Morocco augured well. 

Pope Francis was welcomed by King Mohammed VI at the beginning of his visit on Saturday 30 and Sunday 31 March.

It continued to pour as the pope delivered his highly anticipated speech to the Moroccan people on “freedom of conscience and religious freedom,” which he said “is not limited to freedom of worship alone, but allows all to live in accordance with their religious convictions – are inseparably linked to human dignity.”

Moving beyond simple tolerance to respect and esteem for others

“In this regard, there is a constant need to progress beyond mere tolerance to respect and esteem for others,” added Pope Francis, whose Egyptian secretary translated the speech into Arabic.

Above all, the pope insisted on presenting the faith in terms of practice and service to the community in which believers live.

Thus, on a visit to the Caritas Morocco migrant welcome center on Saturday evening, Pope Francis quoted from his message on the dignity of migrants.

Building his speech around four verbs – welcome, protect, promote and integrate – which he repeated several times, Pope Francis again pleaded for “expanding regular migration channels.”

“The right to migrate (must) be guaranteed, but also the right not to be forced to emigrate, that is, the right to enjoy in their native land suitable conditions for a dignified life,” he said.

Being Christian is an encounter

“For Christians, ‘it is not just about migrants,’ for it is Christ himself who knocks on our doors,” he told a mixed crowd of men and women from Cameroon, Nigeria, Guinea, DR Congo and Senegal.

He returned to the theme of dialogue and faith in another address delivered at a rural social center operated by the Daughters of Charity in Temara, which he visited on Sunday morning and where most people assisted are Muslim.

“Our mission as baptized persons, priests and consecrated men and women, is not really determined by the number or size of spaces that we occupy, but rather by our capacity to generate change and to awaken wonder and compassion,” Pope Francis told the priests, religious and consecrated persons gathered at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rabat.

He emphasized explicitly that “the paths of mission are not those of proselytism, which leads always to a cul-de-sac, but of our way of being with Jesus and with others.”

He said he was “worried” whenever “we Christians are troubled by the thought we are only significant if we are the flour, if we occupy all the spaces.”

“For being a Christian is not about adhering to a doctrine, or a temple or an ethnic group,” the pope insisted.

“Being Christian is about an encounter,” he said during the afternoon mass in a warning to Catholics to avoid anything that could “foment division and confrontation.”

Worthy competition to do good to others

“It is true that many situations can foment division and strife, while others can bring us to confrontation and antagonism,” he admitted during the mass, which combined European hymns with African rhythms in a Church whose congregation is now mainly black.

“Often we are tempted to believe that hatred and revenge are legitimate ways of ensuring quick and effective justice,” the pope continued.

“Yet experience tells us that hatred, division and revenge succeed only in killing our peoples’ soul, poisoning our children’s hopes, and destroying and sweeping away everything we cherish,” he added.

Pope Francis’ speech also echoed that of King Mohammed VI, who has characterized himself as the “Commander of All Believers.”

As he welcomed the pope on Saturday, the king noted that the “three Abrahamic religions do not exist to tolerate each other through fatalist resignation or haughty acceptance” but “to open up to each other and to understand in a valiant contest to do good for each other.”

The king thus aimed to present Morocco as a showcase for dialogue and mutual understanding from this perspective, as evidenced by the founding of a training institute for imams and preachers that bears his name and which Pope Francis visited on Saturday afternoon.

There were no speeches at the institute. Instead, Pope Francis listened to several of the 1300 students, of whom half are foreigners, mostly Africans.

One young woman from north-east Nigeria, which is the territory of the Boko Haram jihadists, spoke of an Islam “for peace and goodness.”

When she returns home, she intends to act “for tolerance and peaceful coexistence,” emphasizing that “women are equal to men in their rights,” she told the pope.

Another student, Aboubakr, said he had been shaken by terrorist attacks in France that had caused to realize that “it was necessary for voices to be raised against this ideology of death.”

Beauty of dialogue and an appeal for Jerusalem

Following these testimonies, the discussion went beautifully quiet as the Moroccan Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by the Frenchman Jean-Claude Casadesus, launched into a composition that audaciously combined Caccini’s Ave Maria, with the Jewish hymn Shema Israel, and the Muslim call to prayer.

It was a genuine moment of grace that visibly moved the pope!

Pope Francis’ visit thus included practical, as well as a cultural and political dialogue.

In addition, during their Saturday afternoon meeting at the Royal Palace in Rabat, Pope Francis and King Mohammed unexpectedly signed a joint appeal calling for the “the specific multi-religious character, the spiritual dimension and the particular cultural identity of Jerusalem / Al-Quds Acharif (to) be protected and promoted.”

Although they avoided any explicit criticism of Israel, the two men made their position clear on the issue of the moving of the US Embassy to the Holy City, emphasizing Jerusalem’s special character which the Holy See has long defended.

They also called for “full freedom of access to the followers of the three monotheistic religions and their right to worship will be guaranteed.”

In this way the two men anchored their dialogue to a concrete issue.