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Rabat – Pope Francis arrived at Rabat Cathedral on the morning of Sunday, March 31, shouting "bienvenidos", "welcome" and "MarHaba" from an international and prized group of priests, church officials, and others. church and religious consecrated many denominations.
Nuns of the order of Mother Teresa have joined the Franciscan monks and the heads of the Orthodox churches in North Africa. Even though the benches were full, the gathering of the cathedral felt more intimate than the afternoon Mbad, where 10,000 followers joined the pope in a stadium just outside of Rabat.
At the beginning of the meeting, Pope Francis warmly welcomed Father Jean-Pierre Schumacher, the last surviving monk of Tibhirine, who currently lives at the convent of Our Lady of the Atlas in Midelt.
Speaking at the cathedral, Pope Francis welcomed the fact that Christians are free to practice their religion Morocco which promotes the strengthening of dialogue, cooperation and friendship between Muslims and Christians.
Pope Francis reiterated his call for interreligious dialogue, a message he had delivered the day before to Parliament, addressing King Mohammed VI. The Pope said that this dialogue is not "a strategy to increase [the church’s] membership. "
"Christians are a minority in this country. Yet, in my opinion, this is not a problem. "
The pope said that proselytism "always leads to a cul-de-sac" and that it is the spiritual and social work of Christians that is paramount.
"Jesus did not choose us and sent us to become more numerous! He called us to a mission. "This mission," he said, "is not determined by" the number or size of spaces we occupy, but by our ability to generate change and create wonder and compbadion. ".
The pope explained that "charity, especially towards the most vulnerable," is the best way to create a culture of dialogue. "The dialogue then becomes a prayer," he added.
Miguel Angel, a Franciscan monk living in El Hoceima, in northern Morocco, told Morocco World News that his monastery runs a health center for people with mental illness, all of whom are Moroccan Muslims. He practices his religion by helping people in need, he said. "We came to help our brothers. We are interested in people, not in their religion. No matter what they believe, the person is a child of God.
Sitting on the stage, the pope was flanked on both sides by the two Moroccan archbishops, Fr. Cristóbal Lopez Romero of Rabat and his father. Santiago Agrelo Martinez from Tangier.
"I would like all Christians and Muslims around the world to know that we are brothers and not rivals and that we are working together in Morocco to build a world of justice and peace," said the Archbishop of Tangier, Bishop Santiago Agrelo Martinez journalists.
Most of the cathedral members were elders, reflecting the aging of the Catholic population in Europe. But at the end of the ceremony, four children ran to greet the Pope on stage, under the bursts of laughter and applause from the audience.
Most of today's Moroccan Christians are young immigrants from sub-Saharan African countries. Omar, a young Nigerian Protestant student in Rabat, said the Pope's visit was an aid to the Moroccan Christian minority. "This shows us that there really is a freedom of worship for us, to be strangers in this country."
Read also: Papal visit: the majority of Christians in Morocco come from sub-Saharan Africa
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