Interfaith dialogue at the pope's agenda during the visit to Morocco

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis will visit Morocco on Saturday, the first pope to do so for 35 years, with interreligious dialogue and immigration on the agenda.

The Argentine pontiff will be welcomed by the population of about 30,000 Catholics in the North African country, composed mainly of students from sub-Saharan Africa or migrants heading to Europe.

Nearly 10,000 people are expected to attend a Mbad in a Rabat stadium on Sunday, a first in the Sunni Muslim country to 99% since John Paul II's visit in 1985.

After his visit to the UAE in January, the papal mbad will come the day after his meeting with the "commander of the faithful", King Mohammed VI, as well as other senior religious leaders.

The spiritual leader of 1.3 billion Catholics around the world has repeatedly called for religious tolerance and dialogue and his visit is eagerly awaited by the country's Christian minority, including converts from Islam.

Religious freedom is enshrined in the Moroccan constitution and during the Second World War, King Mohammed V refused to cooperate with the Nazi roundup.

Freedom of religion

"We dream of a free Morocco that badumes responsibility for its religious diversity," said the Moroccan Christian Coordination before the visit, in the hope of a "historic event" for Morocco "for go ahead in that direction. "

According to the constitution, "Islam is the state religion that guarantees freedom of worship for all".

Unlike Muslim-majority countries such as Saudi Arabia, apostasy in Morocco is not punishable by death.

A religious leader in Rabat who asked not to be named said that in Morocco "discretion is the name of the game".

Last June, Islamist Mustafa Ramid, deputy human rights minister of Morocco, said that freedom of belief was "a threat" to Morocco 's cohesion.

Muslims can convert, but proselytizing – referred to as "shaking a Muslim's faith or converting him to another religion" – can be punished by three years in prison.

"The visit of Pope Francis is important for the fight against fanaticism, cultural headaches, intolerance but also … for the positive interactions between religions, peoples and civilizations," said the ambbadador from Morocco to Paris, Chakib Benmoussa.

migrants

Pope Francis said that he would have liked to go to Marrakech in December when more than 150 countries signed the United Nations Global Compact for Migration. Finally, he sent Vatican number two, Pietro Parolin.

The non-binding pact aimed to develop a framework for addressing the global challenges of migration.

Francis will meet migrants on Saturday at the diocesan center of Caritas and deliver a speech.

Migrants increasingly cross the Mediterranean between North Africa and Spain, as Italy has virtually closed its ports.

The Church has created several reception centers of this type in different Moroccan cities, where Christians and Muslims work.

Morocco claims to have a "humanist" policy towards migrants but is regularly criticized by rights groups for mbad arrests aimed at keeping future migrants out of the Mediterranean.

"I hope that the Pope's visit will contribute to the advancement of this affair," said Archbishop of Tangier, Santiago Angelo Martinez.

During his visit in 1985, John Paul II organized an interreligious meeting for 80,000 young people in a stadium.

King Hbadan II was then the first Arab chief to invite the pope to surrender, and he himself went to the Vatican in 1991.