By Théa OllivierPosted on 29-03-2019Modified the 29-03-2019 at 18:34

Following the invitation of King Mohammed VI, Pope Francis went to Morocco from March 30 to 31. A first since the arrival of John Paul II in 1985. He will meet the Catholic communities of Morocco who expect a lot of this symbolic visit.

On a sunny Saturday afternoon, 70 choristers meet at the end of the imposing Notre-Dame de Lourdes cathedral, built in 1954 at a central hub in Casablanca. Under the colored windows and in front of empty benches, they repeat the melodies they will sing the following week at the Mass celebrated by Pope Francis on March 31 at the Moulay Abdallah stadium, with 500 other singers from all over the kingdom.

" I'm excited and stressed to be able to sing that event. It feels like a blessing, it will not happen a thousand times in our life. It's like a grace to receive the Pope here, "Marie-Esther, an Ivorian student and general secretary of the choir, is disturbed, while the words of the Our-Father in Arabic resound behind her.

In Morocco, they would be about 30,000 Christians with an average age of 35 years. A community that is growing and energizing the Church since the arrival of students and migrants from sub-Saharan Africa. While Morocco has become the first gateway to Europe, the country is also a host country. Following two waves of regularization, 50,000 migrants were regularized on the territory.

Migration, one of the main themes of the visit

No wonder that migration is one of the main themes of the visit of Pope Francis, who will meet migrants on Saturday in the Caritas center in Rabat. Reception centers in several cities in Morocco, faced with the absence of other structures. This visit is fraught with meaning, according to Archbishop Cristobal Lopez Romero of Rabat: " His presence and willingness to meet migrants is a message in itself. Besides, we do not say "migrants" but "people who migrate". We forget that these are people who have human rights . The Archbishop, ordained a year ago, is expecting a lot from the pope's coming. " He is our father, our older brother. He comes to give us courage to live here the Gospel and to be a Christian in its own right, "he enthuses.

Reviving the faith is also expected by the nuns of the Daughters of Charity, who work quietly in the campaign of Temara, south of Rabat. The pope will visit their rural center on Sunday. For the occasion, the burn victims' clinic and the women's literacy center were refurbished. " I am grateful and happy that the pope is coming. It's like a dream ! He is the world leader of our religion. I never thought I would see him, especially since I work here in a small rural center on the outskirts of the city ", admits with emotion and a big smile the Spanish sister Magdalena, who devotes her life to helping poor people this Moroccan countryside. The key words of this center are respect and sharing. " We live and work with Muslims. We pray in different ways. But by different paths, we all go to God, "says sister Gloria, head of the center.

"Meeting between Islam and Christianity"

Interfaith dialogue is the other issue of this papal visit. The Holy Father will visit the Institute of Imam training in Rabat after meeting King Mohammed VI, who also bears the title of Commander of the Faithful. " The king is a religious leader, this visit is not only political. It is a meeting between Islam and Christianity and it will give a very strong impetus for interreligious dialogue , "analyzes Archbishop Lopez Romero.

While the Catholic Church has been in Morocco for 800 years, official diplomatic relations between the kingdom and the Vatican began only in 1976. Following the visit of the former King Hassan II to the Vatican in 1980, the Catholic Church obtains three years later a legal status which gives him the right to exercise publicly and freely his activities.

" Morocco is a hub of interreligious dialogue since the early 1980s, with Egypt and Turkey. This visit confirms the relations between Morocco and the Vatican, particularly regarding the legal status of Morocco, which requires detailed and taxable implementation of the Church's freedom of practice and property management. ", Analysis Abdelouhab Maalmi, first Moroccan ambassador resident in the Vatican in 1997.

Discussing religious freedom is one of the expectations of converted Moroccan Christians. If proselytism is prohibited by law, their presence and unobtrusive practice are tolerated. They were even received in 2017 by the National Council of Human Rights, a Moroccan state institution. Ten days before the arrival of Pope Francis, the Coordination of Moroccan Christians called on the Moroccan authorities and the Holy Father to " dialogue with the utmost sincerity on the subject of religious freedom for Moroccan citizens ", which they consider to be deprived . If freedom of worship is guaranteed by the Moroccan constitution, freedom of conscience is not inscribed.

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